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I 


f 


CHRIST 


HIS  NATURE  AND  WORK 


A  SERIES  OF  DISCOURSES  BY 


HOWARD  CROSBY,  HENRY  W.  BELLOWS,  CYRUS  D.  FOSS,  THOMAS  ARMITAGE, 
WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN,  THOMAS  D.  ANDERSON,  R.  HEBER  NEWTON, 
CHAUNCEY  GILES,  EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN,  EDWIN  H.  CHAPIN, 
EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS,  CHARLES  F.  ROBINSON, 

LLEWELYN  D.  BEVAN. 


NEW  YORK 

.  PUTNAM’S  SONS 


G.  P 


182  FIFTH  AVENUE 

1878 


Copyright  by 
G.  P.  PUTNAM’S  SONS 
187S 


publishers’  note. 


The  present  volume  is  planned  to  be  the  first  of  a  Series  of 
Pulpit  Teachings  of  representative  Protestant  preachers  on  themes 
connected  with  Christian  doctrine. 

The  contributors  to  it  are,  with  one  exception,  pastors  of  New 
York  City  churches,  but  in  the  event  of  our  receiving  from  the  public 
the  requisite  encouragement  for  the  continuation  of  the  Series,  it  is 
our  purpose  with  future  volumes  to  extend  the  territory  from  which 
contributions  will  be  requested,  as  well  as  the  range  of  the  subjects 
to  which  the  volumes  will  be  devoted. 

The  discourses  delivered  from  week  to  week  in  our  churches  con¬ 
tain  much  valuable  thought  which  the  hearers  would  be  glad  to  have 
preserved  in  permanent  form,  and  which  in  such  form  would  prove 
of  service  also  to  many  of  the  community  whom  all  preachers  would 
gladly  influence,  but  who  cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  reached  from  the 
pulpit. 

We  have  endeavored  to  obtain  the  co-operation  of  teachers  who 
are  fairly  representatives  of  the  thought  and  status  of  their  several 
denominations,  and  we  have  looked  to  each  contributor  to  select  for 
use  in  the  Series  such  one  of  his  discourses  as  was  as  far  as  possible 
representative  of  his  own  opinions  and  position. 

It  is  believed  that  this  volume,  and  a  series  made  up  of  similar 
volumes,  presenting  from  different  points  of  view  the  current 
Protestant  opinions  of  the  day  on  themes  of  essential  importance, 
cannot  but  possess  an  exceptional  interest  and  value,  and  will  form  a 
unique  contribution  to  the  theological  and  religious  literature  of  the 
time. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM’S  SONS. 


.  - 

. 


;  v 


■ 


■ 


- 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

I  GOD  EVER  ACTIVE  IN  CHRIST. 

By  Howard  Crosby,  D.D.,  {Presbyterian).  i 

II  THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 

By  Henry  W  Bellows,  D.D.,  {Unitarian).  13 

III  THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 

By  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  D.  D.,  {Methodist).  37 

iv  Christ’s  espousal  of  the  lost. 

By  William  F.  Morgan,  D.  D.,  {Episcopal).  67 

v  Christ’s  sanction  to  the  authority  of  rev¬ 
elation. 

By  Thomas  D.  Anderson,  D.  D.,  {Baptist).  89 

VI  JESUS  :  HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION. 

By  Thomas  Armitage,  D.  D.,  {Baptist).  115 

vii  Christ’s  law  of  co-operation. 

By  Rev.  R.  Heber  Newton,  {Episcopal).  141 

VIII  THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST  THE  PROOF  OF  HIS  DIVINE 
REVELATION. 

By  Edward  A.  Washburn,  D.  D.,  {Episcopal).  16s 

IX  WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST  ? 

By  Rev.  Chauncey  Giles,  {Swedenborgian).  195 

X  THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS. 

By  Ebenezer  P.  Rogers,  D.  D.,  {Reformed  Dutch).  219 

XI  A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR. 

By  Charles  S.  Robinson,  D.  D.,  {Presbyterian).  337 

XII  THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF,  AS  SEEN  IN 
SOME  CONTRADICTORY  PHENOMENA  OF  HIS 
LIFE  AND  CHARACTER. 

By  Llewelyn  D.  Bevan,  LL.  B.,  {Presbyterian).  353 

XIII  THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE. 

By  Edwin  H.  Chapin,  D.  D.,  {Universalist).  389 


* 


GOD  EVER  ACTI  VE  IN 
CHRIST. 

By  HOWARD  CROSBY,  D.  D. 


John  V.  1 7.  “  My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and 

I  work.”  Herbert  Spencer  is  right,  as  judging  from 
the  position  of  the  natural  heart,  when  he  says  that 
God  is  unknowable.  The  Bible  announced  that 

■  )  f '  !  » 

truth  1800  years  before  Herbert  Spencer.  It  an¬ 
nounces  it  repeatedly.  “  No  man  hath  seen  God  at 
any  time.”  “  No  man  knoweth  the  Father,  save  the 
Son  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  him.” 
“  He  dwelleth  in  the  light  which  no  man  can  ap¬ 
proach  to — whom  no  man  hath  seen  or  can  see.” 
Herbert  Spencer  is  right,  as  against  all  those  who 
would  see  God  and  know  him  through  the  exploits 
of  science  and  philosophy.  He  sweeps  away  all  the 
webs  that  have  been  woven  by  Stoics  or  Epicureans 
or  Spiritualistic  dreamers  or  Poets,  in  short  all  that 
has  been  projected  of  God  from  the  human  mind. 
He  is  perfectly  right  in  this,  and  let  us  thank  him 


2 


HOWARD  CROSBY . 


for  doing  this  service  for  the  truth.  But  Herbert 
Spencer  has  not  considered  that  that  which  is  un¬ 
knowable  to  the  natural  man  may  be  made  known 
to  the  spiritual  man  by  a  divine  way,  that  new 
powers  may  be  given  to  the  soul  fitted  to  new  mani¬ 
festations  of  the  Deity,  and  he  has  ignored  the  fact 
which,  as  a  scientific  thinker,  he  ought  to  have  noted, 
that  millions  have  shown  at  least  the  strongest  pre¬ 
sumptive  proof  that  they  have  known  God.  God 
has  come  down  to  us  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  fitted  us  to  see  the  Son  and,  in  the  Son, 
the  Father.  This  happy  experience  of  the  humblest 
of  God’s  saints  is  a  transcendental  and  meaningless 
statement  to  Herbert  Spencer.  The  vision  of  Moses 
at  Sinai  was  a  declaration  of  the  two  facts  that  God 
is  unknowable,  and  yet  that  he  can  reveal  himself  to 
his  people.  God  there  said  to  Moses  “  Thou  canst 
not  see  my  face  ;  for  there  shall  no  man  see  me  and 
live.  *  *  Behold  there  is  a  place  by  me  and  thou 
shalt  stand  upon  a  rock,  and  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
while  my  glory  passeth  by,  that  I  will  put  thee  in  a 
cleft  of  the  rock,  and  will  cover  thee  with  my  hand 
while  I  pass  by ;  and  I  will  take  away  my  hand,  and 
thou  shalt  see  my  back  parts  (or  extremities)  ;  but 
my  face  shall  not  be  seen.”  Human  invention  can¬ 
not  reach  God.  “  Who,  by  searching,  can  find  out 


GOD  EVER  ACTIVE  IN  CHRIST. 


3 


God?”  But  God  can,  in  his  mercy  and  power,  so 
cause  man  and  himself  to  approach  one  another  as 
that  man  may  know  what  was  otherwise  unknow¬ 
able,  and  see  the  extremities  or  outer  edges  of  God 
himself.  This  is  done,  as  we  have  seen,  by  a  double 
act  ;  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  bringing  God 
down,  and  the  bestowment  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  lift¬ 
ing  man  up.  Of  all  this  Herbert  Spencer  knows 
nothing.  There  is  something  higher  and  truer  than 
metaphysics.  A  revelation  from  heaven  poured 
down  upon  earth  amid  years  of  overwhelming  evi¬ 
dences,  and  supported  by  the  attestations  of  lives 
and  experiences  innumerable  has  been  refused  and 
despised  by  these  weak  materialists,  who  try  to  take 
care  of  themselves  and  do  without  a  God,  the  humil¬ 
ity  that  would  not  know  God  being  really  a  foolish 
pride  that  would  exalt  self. 

The  heart  taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit  loves  to  visit 
and  study  God  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
wisdom,  strength,  purity,  love  and  compassion  of 
God  are  all  made  visible  and  comprehensible  in 
Jesus.  We  are  attracted  and  not  overawed.  God 
has  a  human  aspect,  and  human  character.  He 
leaves  the  abstract,  and  we  hear,  see,  look  upon  and 
handle  the  Word  of  life,  which  was  with  the  Father 
and  was  manifested  unto  us.  We  have  now  felloiv- 


4 


HOWARD  CROSBY. 


ship  with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son,  Jesus  Christ. 
The  fatal  error  of  the  Jews  was  their  refusal  to  ac¬ 
cept  this  fellowship — their  denial  of  the  Father  in 
the  Son.  Hence  they  have  been  staggering  these 
eighteen  centuries  in  the  darkness  of  despair,  all 
their  own  Scriptures  testifying  against  them.  The 
words  of  our  text  were  uttered  to  these  unbelieving 
and  fanatical  Jews,  who  reviled  our  Lord,  because 
he  had  healed  the  cripple  at  Bethesda  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath  day.  In  their  low  carnality  they  saw  nothing 
in  their  religion  but  ritual  and  regimen,  and  inter¬ 
preted  Scripture  by  this  low  standard.  They  assert¬ 
ed  that  abstinence  from  work  on  the  Sabbath  in¬ 
cluded  every  activity  but  such  as  belonged  to  the 
ceremonial  services,  and  so,  for  a  sick  man  to  seek 
healing  on  the  Sabbath  was  an  infringement  of  the 
Commandment.  So  wild  were  they  in  their  fanati¬ 
cal  rage  in  this  case,  that  they  sought  to  destroy 
Jesus,  who  had  performed  the  cure.  Jesus’  reply 
was  our  text,  which  only  exasperated  them  the 
more,  as  it  implied  his  equality  with  God.  It  cer¬ 
tainly  does.  He  associates  himself  with  the  Father 
as  no  created  being  could  dare  to  do.  And  so  it  is 
all  through  the  New  Testament,  when  Christ  speaks, 
or  when  his  apostles  speak;  God  the  Father  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  spoken  of  as  only  an  eternal 


GOD  EVER  ACTIVE  IN  CHRIST. 


5 

oneness  would  warrant,  just  as  we  see  at  last  the 
Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  Supreme  Throne. 

When  Jesus  said  “  My  father  worketh  hitherto 
and  I  work,”  he  showed  that  God’s  resting  from  the 
physical  creation  was  not  to  be  associated  with  ideas 
of  fatigue  and  exhaustion,  but  rather  a  testimony  to 
the  value  of  the  spiritual  over  the  material.  God’s 
creation  of  the  material  universe  can  be  marked  in 
time,  but  his  activity  in  the  spiritual  spheres  of 
being  and  in  the  physical  world  as  connected  with 
and  guided  by  spiritual  forces  has  no  limit  whatever. 
The  Sabbath  therefore  represents  retirement  from 
the  lower  to  the  higher  life,  and  not  idleness  or 
sleep,  the  results  of  the  dominancy  of  the  lower 
life.  The  rest  of  the  Sabbath  is  not  physical  rest, 
but  rest  from  the  lower  applications  of  the  energies. 
This  the  Jews  could  not  understand,  and  so  they  re¬ 
buked  our  Lord  for  healing  on  the  Sabbath,  count¬ 
ing  such  a  holy  exercise  of  love  and  compassion  a 
work  that  dishallowed  the  sacred  day.  They  should 
have  seen,  first,  that  if  physical  rest  was  the  meaning 
of  the  Sabbath,  their  literal  construction  should 
logically  forbid  the  lifting  of  a  finger,  or  the  taking 
of  a  single  step  with  the  foot  ;  and,  secondly,  that 
that  which  constitututed  “  work  ”  in  the  Sabbatic 
law,  was  to  be  measured  and  defined  from  the 


6 


HOWARD  CROSBY. 


spiritual  side.  When  God  ceased  creating  and  mak¬ 
ing,  he  did  not  cease  working.  He  became  no  Hin¬ 
doo  Bralnn .  His  activity  has  never  ceased  and  can 
never  cease.  It  knows  no  Sabbatism,  and  in  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  case  can  have  no  Sabbatism.  The  Sab¬ 
batism  has  relation  only  to  earthly  ends.  Says  the 
Saviour  “  My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I  work.” 
It  was  as  much  as  to  say  to  the  Jews  “  All  the  holy 
influences  of  God  are  in  perpetual  operation  ;  his 
grace  is  ever  achieving  its  conquests ;  and  all  who 
are  connected  with  his  purposes  of  mercy  will  con¬ 
tinue  to  engage  actively  in  the  holy  work  of  love 
without  any  Sabbatic  limitation  affecting  them.’' 
Now  while  this  high  definition  of  the  Sabbath 
appears  to  be  the  primal  intent  of  this  saying  of 
Jesus,  yet  the  incessant  working  of  the  Son  in  con¬ 
junction  with  the  father  is  a  truth  very  prominent 
in  the  words,  and  to  this  thought  we  may  profitably 
direct  our  minds  as  in  itself  full  of  suggestion,  with¬ 
out  relation  to  its  application  to  Sabbath  obser¬ 
vance. 

With  God  unseen  by  the  natural  eye  and  even  in¬ 
conceivable  to  the  mind  in  his  essentiality,  and  with 
his  Son,  who  is  his  expression  and  image  (xafnxKTiyj — 
Heb.  i.  3.  eixcov — 2  Cor.  4.  4)  though  once  seen, 
now  hidden  from  view,  it  is  not  a  ready  thought  that 


GOD  EVER  ACTIVE  IN  CHRIST. 


7 

the  Infinite  One  is,  in  and  by  the  Son,  just  as  active 
for  us  as  when  the  solemn  scenes  of  Gethsemane  and 
Golgotha  were  enacting.  We  are  prone  to  suppose 
that  there  is  now  a  time  of  were  waiting,  an  interval 
in  which  nothing  is  doing,  and  the  next  great  day  of 
action  will  be  the  judgment  day.  But  the  love  of 
God  is  never  dormant,  and  if  his  love  is  not  dormant, 
how  can  his  energy  for  us  be  dormant  ?  It  is  true 
now  as  when  Christ  spoke  it  to  the  Jews — his  Father 
is  working  up  to  this  day  and  Christ  is  working 
too.  We  have  but  little  idea  of  the  spiritual  world. 
But  we  know  that  there  are  tremendous  agencies  of 
evil  at  work,  agencies  that  show  themselves  in  such 
facts  as  the  entrance  of  2000  demons  into  one  man, 
and  the  racking  of  men’s  bodies  by  diabolic 
forces, — agencies  whose  leader  and  guide  is  called 
again  and  again  by  our  Lord  “  the  prince  of  this 
world  ” — agencies  that  can,  through  the  body,  (and 
perhaps  without  its  aid),  tempt  the  mind  to  false¬ 
hood,  and  the  heart  to  crime.  The  word  of  God  also 
assures  us  that  the  strife  caused  by  these  evil 
powers  is  prosecuted  in  the  unseen  world,  that  oppo¬ 
sitions  and  thwartings  are  permitted  for  some  wise 
reason  there.  Where  the  veil  has  been  drawn  aside 
we  have  seen  that  the  other  world  is  all  activity  be¬ 
tween  the  powers  of  good  and  the  powers  of  evil. 


8 


HOWARD  CROSBY. 


This  is  what  the  books  of  Job,  Daniel  and  the  Rev¬ 
elation  clearly  teach  us.  It  is  not  all  contention 
here  and  all  quiet  there.  There  is  a  vast  war  still  in 
progress  in  the  wide  universe  of  God,  and  chief  in 
all  the  activity  is  the  Son  of  God,  the  King  of  Kings 
and  Lord  of  Lords.  His  increasing  energy  is  exer¬ 
cised  in  behalf  of  his  redeemed.  He  ever  liveth  to 
make  intercession  for  them.  This  implies  a  con¬ 
stant  activity  for  them  against  their  accuser,  an  as¬ 
sumption  of  their  cause  in  all  its  mysterious 
necessities.  We  know  the  result.  It  is  salvation 
and  eternal  glory  for  them, — but  we  know  very  little 
of  the  means  by  which  this  result  is  acquired.  We 
see  a  part  here  in  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice,  but 
what  do  we  know  of  the  profound  meaning  of  that 
word  “  intercession  ?”  What  are  the  relations  be¬ 
tween  God  and  the  “  principalities  and  powers  and 
rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world  and  the  wicked 
spirits  in  heavenly  places  ”  ?  What  was  the  conten¬ 
tion  of  Michael  the  archangel  with  the  devil  ? 
What  was  the  twenty-one  day  hindrance  of  the  holy 
one  on  his  way  to  Daniel,  when  Michael  came  to  his 
help?  We  catch  but  glimpses  of  that  wonderful 
world  beyond  the  sense,  and  doubtless  could  not 
understand  it  if  we  should  see  more  of  it,  and  so  we 
are  not  tantalized  and  perplexed  with  further  visions; 


GOD  EVER  ACTIVE  IN  CHRIST. 


9 

of  it.  But  we  see  enough  to  know  that  processes 
are  going  on,  forces  are  organized  and  in  conflict, 
progress  is  made,  connections  between  heaven  and 
earth  are  continuous,  in  all  which  prayer  is  a  con¬ 
stant  element  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  De¬ 
fender  and  Saviour  of  his  people. 

While  we  may  not  detail  his  continual  working  in 
the  spiritual  realm,  we  may  know  it  is  all  an  interces¬ 
sion  (Rom.  8.  34.  compared  with  ver.  26.  where  the 
spirit  does  the  same  in  us  that  Christ  does  in  heaven .) 
He  is  interfering  in  our  behalf  ( evrvyxotvn  vrcip 
?/pGjvy  meeting  the  necessities  of  the  case,  just  as 
he  met  part  of  those  necessities  at  Calvary.  The 
old  ritual  betokened  this.  There  was  not  only  sac¬ 
rifice,  but  the  appearing  of  the  High  Priest  with  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifice  in  the  holy  of  holies,  into  which 
the  rest  could  not  look.  May  not  the  very  length 
of  time  before  Christ  came  in  the  flesh  be  an  indica- 
tiod  that  God’s  grace  in  Christ  has  other  spheres  of 
activity  than  this  world,  and  to  that  fact  may  we 
not  attribute  the  delay  of  the  final  consummation  ? 
May  not  the  fulness  of  time  in  each  case  refer  to 
things  heavenly  as  well  as  things  earthly?  We  can¬ 
not  appeal  against  this  to  God’s  almightiness,  for 
God  works  in  nature  by  laws  and  plans  and 
through  long  times,  and  why  may  he  not 


IO 


HOWARD  CROSBY. 


work  in  the  spiritual  world  or  spiritual  life  also 
by  plans  and  laws  and  through  long  times?  But 
besides  this  constant  working  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son  in  the  unseen  world,  we  are  daily  beholding  the 
movements  of  grace  upon  earth  which  we  must  refer 
to  the  same  divine  source.  Whether  diseased  bod¬ 
ies  or  diseased  souls  are  healed,  beyond  all  second¬ 
ary  laws  where  science  has  its  field,  we  recognize 
Him  who  created  and  who  upholds  all  things  by  His 
Son.  It  is  He  “who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities 
and  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases.”  The  working  of 
nature  implies  the  working  of  the  Divine  hand. 
Not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  God. 
Whenever  the  Divine  power  touches  these  visible 
things,  it  is  the  Son,  who  “upholds  all  things  by  the 
word  of  his  power,”  “  in  whom  is  Life,”  “  by  whom 
all  things  consist,”  the  very  same  who  is  Head  of 
the  Church.  There  is  a  demoniacal  power  ever  work¬ 
ing  upon  the  earth,  but  by  its  side  and  superior  to 
it  is  a  divine  power  in  constant  exercise  and  that  is 
Christ,  whose  presence  with  his  people  has  never 
been  removed.  “  I  am  with  you  always  ”  is  said  by 
Him,  when  removing  his  visible  body  from  the  sight 
of  men.  In  this  conflict  of  demoniacal  and  divine 
powers  upon  earth,  the  latter  uses  the  former  for  its 
own  holy  purposes  allowing  Satanic  agencies  to  act 


GOD  EVER  ACTIVE  IN  CHRIST.  i  i 

only  so  far  as  infinite  wisdom  decides.  Over  against 
Satan’s  desire  to  sift  is  the  Son  praying  to  the 
Father.  Over  against  the  strong  man  aroused  is 
the  stronger  than  he,  the  Overcomer,  who  was 
manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil. 

The  eye  of  faith  thus  sees  the  ever-active  Christ 
working  to-day  with  the  same  love  and  the  same 
power  and  the  same  aim  with  which  he  worked 
when  the  eye  of  sense  saw  him  in  Galilee  at- 
Judea  ;  and  the  heart  of  faith  is  cheered  and  comfort¬ 
ed  beyond  all  expression  when  it  thus  recognizes 
Jesus  Christ  the  same  yesterday  to-day  and  forever. 
It  was  necessary  that  the  Jesus  of  Nazareth  should 
go  away  in  order  that  the  Church  should  understand 
this  more  intimate  and  universal  presence  of  the 
Lord.  The  eye  of  faith  could  not  be  exercised  when 
the  eye  of  sense  had  such  an  absorbing  object,  and 
the  grander  truth  was  lost  by  reason  of  the  lesser. 
Not  only  in  all  the  evangelistic  efforts  of  the  Church 
of  God,  but  in  every  individual  spirit-growth  with 
all  its  attached  temporal  circumstances,  the  Son  of 
God  is  working  in  every  detail,  and  he  who  sees  the 
Son  sees  the  Father.  When  the  soul  is  accustomed 
to  this  sublime  view  of  an  ever-present,  ever-energizing 
Saviour,  it  has  conquered  the  world  ;  it  is  no  longer 
a  pensioner  on  its  bounty,  or  a  slave  to  its  whims. 


12 


HOWARD  CROSBY. 


It  lives  in  a  sphere  where  the  world’s  forces  are  all 
cancelled.  This  is  the  secret  place  of  the  Most 
High — this  the  pavilion  where  God  loves  to  hide  his 
own.  This  is  where  martyrs  and  sufferers  of^all 
kinds  have  found  a  triumph  over  all  their  sufferings, 
in  the  presence  of  a  working  Christ. 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT 
IN  CHRISTIANITY; 


ITS  ORIGIN,  WORTH  AND  PRESENT  SIGNIFICANCE. 


By  HENRY  W.  BELLOWS,  D.  D. 

For  if  that  which  was  done  away  was  glorious ,  much  more 
that  which  remaineth  is  glorious.  Seeing  then ,  we  have  such 
hope ,  we  use  great  plainness  of  speech  :  and  not  as  Moses 
which  put  a  vail  over  his  face ,  that  the  children  of  Israel 
could  not  look  at  that  which  is  abolished : 

II.  Cor.  ii,  12,  13. 

I  propose,  in  the  following  discourse,  to  examine 
in  a  candid  manner,  the  origin,  worth  and  present 
significance  of  the  sacrificial  element  in  Christianity. 
What  this  element  is,  you  mostly  know.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  wide-spread  and  prevailing  theology  of 
Christendom,  the  chief  service  which  our  Saviour 
has  done  the  world,  has  been  that  of  becoming  the 
literal  sacrifice  for,  and  substitute  of,  our  sins — suf¬ 
fering  the  pains  and  penalties  of  our  offences — ex¬ 
piating  the  guilt  of  the  world,  and  propitiating  the 
favor  of  a  justly  angry  God.  According  to  this 
idea,  all  the  penitence  for  sin,  which  the  sincerest 
sorrow  and  reform  could  attest,  would,  without 
Christ’s  sacrifice  have  been  utterly  in  vain.  A 
broken  law  had  to  be  vindicated  ;  the  wrath  of  a 


14 


HENRY  IV.  BELLOWS. 


just  and  holy  God  to  be  appeased,  before  there  was 
any  place  for  repentance.  The  sins  of  the  world, 
according  to  this  theory,  had  so  interrupted,  or 
rather  so  entirely  closed  the  relations  between  the 
Almighty  Sovereign  and  his  earthly  subjects,  that  a 
condition  of  non-intercourse  existed.  Mankind 
were  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  They  had  no  repre¬ 
sentative  at  the  divine  court.  They  were  in  no 
condition  to  offer,  had  they  been  so  disposed,  any 
terms  of  peace  ;  nor  had  they  in  their  spiritual  beg¬ 
gary  any  thing  wherewith  to  propitiate  the  insulted 
majesty  of  heaven  even  had  they  known  and  felt 
the  horror  of  their  situation  ;  their  case  was  abso¬ 
lutely  hopeless.  They  had  forfeited  the  sole  and  ex¬ 
plicit  condition  of  God’s  favor,  by  their  disobedience 
to  the  law.  All  their  penitence  for  the  past,  and  all 
the  future  obedience  they  could  exhibit,  could  do 
nothing  to  remove  the  curse  that  rested  on  their 
heads. 

In  this  desperate  state  of  things,  Jesus  Christ  the 
Son  of  God,  and  the  equal  with  the  Father,  resolves 
to  offer  himself,  a  sacrifice  to  the  vengeance  of  the 
law  ;  to  assume,  as  upon  this  theory,  his  infinite  na¬ 
ture  enabled  him  to  do,  the  guilt  of  all  men  ;  to  suf¬ 
fer  in  his  own  person,  the  penalty  of  all  the  sin  ever 
committed  ;  to  let  the  weight  of  the  formal  curse 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


15 


utterly  spend  itself  on  his  head,  and  thus  render  it 
possible  for  the  Father — the  majesty  of  the  law 
being  vindicated,  and  the  threatening  of  God  exe¬ 
cuted — to  forgive  sinners  henceforth,  on  repentance 
and  on  acceptance  of  Christ  as  their  sacrifice. 
Henceforth,  men  were,  after  confessing  their  sins 
and  repenting  of  them,  to  plead  the  merits  of 
Christ,  as  their  justification.  Against  the  curse  of 
the  law  they  were  to  hold  up  their  Saviour’s  cross ; 
against  their  debts  to  God,  to  point  to  their  ransom 
in  Christ. 

It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  point  out  the  moral 
objections  and  practical  abuses  to  which  this  sub¬ 
stitutional  view  of  sin  is  liable  ;  easy  to  make  it 
seem  very  offensive  and  very  untenable ;  easy  to  se¬ 
cure  your  entire  disapprobation  and  rejection  of 
the  theory  ;  but  that  would  not  account  for  the  inter¬ 
esting  fact,  that  this  theory  has  characteristically  pre¬ 
vailed  in  the  Christian  world  since  Christ’s  day,  and 
is  now  dear  to  millions  of  intelligent  and  excellent 
believers  in  the  Gospel.  You  would  gain  nothing 
in  the  clearness  of  your  own  views ;  nor  be  able  to 
hold  them  with  any  new  conviction  by  any  such 
cheap  triumph,  as  either  a  philosophical  or  scrip¬ 
tural  refutation  of  the  popular  sacrificial  system. 
But  if  you  can  be  made  to  see  how  naturally  that 


i6 


HENRY  IV.  BELLO  W  S. 


system  has  arisen  ;  how  it  has  carried  wrapped  dark¬ 
ly  within  itself  certain  precious  truths,  which  can 

% 

now  safely  be  trusted  to  an  open  and  undisguised 
existence  ;  how  in  truth,  it  merely  symbolized  prin¬ 
ciples  and  realities,  which  can,  in  this  later  day,  be 
looked  at  in  their  purer  essence,  you  will  then  ac¬ 
quire,  I  think,  a  reasonable,  calm  and  useful  repos¬ 
session  of  your  own  religious  sentiments,  with  a 
larger  charity  towards  those  of  others,  and  a  better 
understanding  of  them. 

If  we  can  understand  the  origin  and  use  of  the 
sacrificial  system  under  Moses,  we  shall  see  our  way 
clearly  through  the  case.  We  must  bear  in  mind, 
with  what  slow  and  difficult  steps,  the  real  character 
of  God  had  been  unfolding  itself  in  the  world  ;  first, 
his  absolute  Being  and  overwhelming  sovereignty ; 
next,  his  absolute  justice  and  holiness  ;  lastly,  his 
universal  love  and  discriminating  mercy  towards  in¬ 
dividual  souls.  The  worship  of  the  world  has  nec¬ 
essarily  followed  in  its  forms,  the  history  of  its  con¬ 
ceptions  of  God.  He  has  been  sought  and  propiti¬ 
ated  in  every  age,  by  what  had  then  been  supposed 
to  be  most  acceptable  to  him.  During  the  era 
when  His  mere  sovereignty  was  being  established  in 
men’s  minds,  every  thing  that  bore  witness  to  men’s 
sense  of  His  power  and  authority,  became  an  ele- 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT 


17 


ment  of  worship.  If  we  remember  how  barbarous 
monarchs  are  magnified  by  themselves  and  their 
subjects — how  they  surround  themselves  with  in¬ 
signia  of  cruelty,  and  rejoice  in  the  display  of  abso¬ 
lute  power— and  how  eager  their  subjects  are  to 
show  subserviency  by  abject  propitiations,  by  cost¬ 
ly  offerings  and  bloody  sacrifices,  we  shall  readily 
understand,  how  the  earliest  worship  offered  to  the 
Gods,  came  to  be,  in  all  probability,  human  sacrifices. 
That  cannibalism,  which  survives  among  the  lowest 
races  and  most  effete  savages  of  the  globe — in  which 
their  enemies  are  first  killed  in  honor  of  their  idols, 
and  then  eaten — is  doubtless  only  the  dying  echo  of 
a  system  which  was  once  universal.  Livingstone 
tells  us  that  to  this  day,  in  the  interior  of  Africa 
the  funeral  rites  of  a  king  are  celebrated  with  the 
deliberate  slaughter  of  a  hundred  of  his  own  sub¬ 
jects.  So  natural  is  it  for  crude  humanity  to  seek 
in  cruelty,  some  fierce  expression  of  its  sense  of  love 
and  submission.  We  seem  to  see  in  Abraham’s 
readiness  to  slaughter  Isaac,  a  remnant  of  the  feel¬ 
ing  that  God  was  to  be  propitiated  by  human  sacri¬ 
fice.  The  disposition  still  shown  among  barbarians 
to  gash  themselves  with  knives,  and  do  kindred  acts 
of  violence  to  their  own  persons  and  each  other,  in 
expression  of  their  reverence  for  the  unknown  Be- 


i8 


HENRY  W.  BELLOWS. 


ing,  indicates  the  depth  of  the  original  idea  of  God, 
as  a  Being  jealous,  vindictive,  absolute — delighting 
that  his  subjects  counted  no  pains  or  sufferings 
dear  which  would  propitiate  his  favor.  It  would  al¬ 
most  seem,  as  if  the  first  idea  of  worship,  conceived 
of  God  as  most  honored,  by  whatever  most  dishon¬ 
ored  man ;  that  every  thing  most  repugnant  and 
painful  to  human  beings  was  to  be  self  imposed,  and 
set  apart  as  specially  grateful  to  God.  In  whatever 
way  men  could  spite  their  own  instincts,  do  violence 
to  their  own  wishes  and  inclinations,  by  that  way 
they  sought  to  show  their  servility  before  the  Infin¬ 
ite.  Thus  the  worship  of  the  serpent,  the  ape,  the 
crocodile.  The  cruel,  the  painful,  the  ugly  were 
the  chief  elements  in  the  first  worship  of  absolute 
power. 

Moses  found  this  system  of  things — more  or  less 
modified  by  experience  and  culture  and  philosophy 
— existing  in  Egypt  and  in  all  neighboring  countries. 
A  universal  system  of  human  sacrifices,  had  slowly 
improved  itself  into  the  sacrifice  of  beasts  in  the 
more  advanced  nations ;  but  the  Gods  were  every¬ 
where  approached  with  offerings  of  expiation  and 
propitiation.  They  were  considered  great  and  glo¬ 
rious,  according  to  the  number  of  beasts  slain  in 
their  honor.  Originally  cruelty,  the  inflaming  sight 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


19 


of  blood,  the  exciting  sense  of  suffering,  formed, 
perhaps,  the  largest  element  in  these  offerings  : 
for,  the  dull  and  unrefined  feelings  of  our  own  crude 
humanity  are  stung  into  sensibility  by  nothing  short 
of  these  coarse  appeals.  But  a  pain,  less  intense 
and  more  refining,  has  now  to  be  substituted  ;  the 
pain  of  surrendering  what  was  valuable  in  itself,  to 
the  service  of  God.  Costliness  was  to  take  the  place 
of  cruelty  in  the  refining  process.  Sacrifices  were 
to  be  measured  not  by  the  suffering,  but  by  the  loss 
that  attended  them.  It  was  inevitable  that  this 
principle  should  gradually  methodize  itself  into  a 
system,  until  modified  variously  in  different  coun¬ 
tries,  a  sacrificial  ritual  should  become  established, 
with  stated  offering  at  stated  periods,  and  with  a 
tariff  of  sacrifices — so  to  speak — adapted  to  the 
means  of  worshipers,  and  to  the  gradations  of  expi¬ 
ation  and  gratitude  to  be  expressed.  If  it  be  asked, 
why  the  sacrifice  of  beasts,  living  things,  should 
have  been  so  generally  prevalent,  in  place  of  offer¬ 
ings  of  jewels,  gold,  or  oil  and  wine,  the  answer  is, 
that  if  human  sacrifices  first  prevailed,  beasts  came 
next  in  the  order  of  dignity,  and  that,  very  likely, 
the  sacrifice  of  life  had  a  hold  on  the  imagination, 
which  could  not  be  obtained  by  any  thing  less  pun¬ 
gent.  We  know  that  offerings  of  coin,  oil  and 


20 


HENRY  IV.  BELLOWS. 


wine  did  gradually — as  flocks  and  herds  became  less 
the  form  in  which  the  wealth  of  the  world  existed — 
supplant  the  sacrifice  of  bulls  and  rams.  But  the 
hold  that  this  system  of  sacrifices  had  on  the  world, 
is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  fact  that  it  descended 
even  to  the  refined  days  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

Moses  found  this  system,  universally  prevalent. 
He  did  not  invent,  much  less  intensify,  or  exaggerate 
it.  On  the  contrary,  he  diminished,  modified,  re¬ 
fined  and  regulated  it.  To  extinguish  it  was  im¬ 
possible.  The  best  that  could  be  done  was  to  con¬ 
vert  it  to  the  use  of  the  ends  he  had  in  view.  God 
was  to  be  revealed — not  now  as  greater  than  all  Gods 
— but  as  a  God  of  holinesss,  an  exacter  of  justice 
and  truth  ;  and  the  existing  forms  of  the  world’s 
worship,  were  to  be  turned  into  a  ritual,  for  the 
service  of  the  true  God.  The  multitudinous  altars, 
were  all  to  be  merged  in  one  altar.  Sacrifices  were 
no  longer  to  be  made  by  any  body,  any  where,  and 
with  whatever  indecent  and  outrageous  rites  a  con¬ 
tagious  orgasm  and  brutal  fury  might  prompt  ;  but 
at  stated  times  and  places,  under  precise  regulations, 
and  with  conditions  favorable  to  the  refinement  of 
the  worshiper.  Moreover,  the  sacrifices  were  now 
to  have  a  definite  and  intelligible  meaning  assigned 
to  them  ;  and  no  circumstance  could  so  surely  have 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


21 


provided  for  their  ultimate  disappearance,  as  this. 
Instead  of  representing  vague  fears  and  vast  emo¬ 
tions ;  of  giving  expression  to  passionate  and  irreg¬ 
ular  feelings,  they  were  now  to  have  an  explicit  sig¬ 
nificance  ;  to  be  connected  with  distinct  purposes, 
and  to  have  each  and  every  one,  a  limited  impor¬ 
tance.  This  introduction  of  reason  into  a  religious 
ritual  is  fatal  to  its  stability,  and  indicates  its  tem¬ 
porary  sway.  It  is  only  mystery  that  survives  all 
arguments  and  outlasts  all  intellectual  and  moral 
progress,  as  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity  may  exem¬ 
plify.  No  doubt  the  sacrificial  system  of  the  Jews 
had  a  highly  educational  influence.  It  was  adapted 
to  accomplish  two  things:  first,  in  place  of  a  vague 
and  mysterious,  to  create  a  reasonable  service  ;  sec¬ 
ond,  to  give  a  gradual  refinement  and  spirituality 
to  a  mode  of  worship  universal  among  men  ;  but  no¬ 
where  else  made  moralising  and  instructive.  Do 
you  wonder  that  I  say  the  Mosaic  system  of  sacri¬ 
fices  was  fitted  to  promote  a  reasonable  service,  in 
place  of  a  vague  and  mysterious  one  ?  Was  it  rea¬ 
sonable  to  suppose  that  God  could  be  moved  and 
placated  by  the  sacrifice  of  goats  and  oxen,  or  that 
the  sins  of  men  could  be  washed  out  in  the  blood 
of  lambs  and  doves  ?  It  may  not  be  reasonable  for 
us ;  but  at  a  time  when  the  greatest  need  of  the 


22 


HENRY  IV.  BELLOWS. 


world  was  to  believe  that  God  cared  enough  for 
men,  to  know  or  care  even  about  their  sins — when 
men,  for  the  most  part,  thought  that  their  virtues 
were  about  as  offensive  to  God  as  their  vices ;  that 
absolute  authority  and  infinite  caprice  sat  on  the 
throne  of  the  universe — it  was  an  immense  thing,  to 
have  them  believe  that  God  discriminated  between 
right  and  wrong — to  teach  them  to  associate  penalty 
with  wrong-doing ;  to  measure  crimes  by  an  exter¬ 
nal  standard,  and  to  believe  that  no  caprice,  or  ac¬ 
cident  ruled  the  divine  mind — but  a  positive  law  ! 
It  was  an  immense  thing  to  have  a  fixed  rule  of  in¬ 
tercourse  with  God  ;  a  way  of  cultivating  right  rela¬ 
tions  with  him  ;  of  removing  real  or  imaginary  ob¬ 
stacles  to  his  favor,  and  thus  gradually  of  forming  a 
definite  and  recognized  intercourse  with  Him. 
There  is  nothing  more  fatal  to  the  knowledge  of 
God,  than  the  absence  of  any  recognized  terms  of 
intercourse  between  Him  and  His  subjects  and  chil¬ 
dren.  No  matter  whether  it  is  the  sense  of  insig¬ 
nificance,  of  ignorance,  or  of  sin,  which  keeps  men 
away ;  anything  that  makes  men  feel  they  cannot 
conceive  God,  or  that  they  are  not  fit  to  come  into 
his  presence,  is  fatal  to  personal  religion.  Vast  and 
vague  and  mystic  conceptions  of  the  supreme,  push 
men  into  fatalism  ;  destroy  their  self  respect  and 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


23 


render  practical  faith  and  religious  obedience  impos¬ 
sible  ;  they  drive  the  human  soul  either  into  despair 
or  apathy — commonly  into  both.  It  is  a  great  mis¬ 
take,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  the  only  object  of 
the  Jewish  sacrificial  system,  was  to  mark  God’s 
dreadful  indignation  at  sin  ;  it  was  quite  as  much  to 
prevent  the  sense  of  sin  from  being  an  absolute  bar¬ 
rier  between  man  and  Himself ;  to  educate  the 
conscience  without  allowing  it  to  become  a  terrible 
wall  betwixt  the  sinner  and  his  maker.  Sin,  there¬ 
fore,  was,  by  the  Jewish  system,  made  definite  and 
tangible  and  thus,  clearly  apprehensible  by  the  hu¬ 
man  conscience,  and  it  was  made  removable  by  ritual 
acts,  and,  therefore,  not  left  to  be  a  ground  of  hope¬ 
less  alienation.  The  system  of  sacrifices,  converted 
into  an  expression  of  the  penalties  that  attended 
wrong  doing,  and  so  made  highly  educating  to  the 
conscience,  was  likewise  made  a  means  of  easy  in¬ 
tercourse  with  the  Almighty  ;  provision  being 
made  for  lightening  the  conscience  of  its  load,  and 
enabling  the  sinner  to  begin  anew  with  his  efforts 
to  please  God.  It  corresponded,  in  this  respect  to 
the  use  of  confession  and  absolution  in  the  Catholic 
church,  which  for  the  masses  of  the  ignorant  and 
morally  weak,  have  not  been  without  their  service¬ 
ableness.  The  immense  advantage  of  this,  will  be 


24 


HENRY  IV.  BELLOWS. 


understood  by  comparing  for  a  moment,  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  a  people  to  an  absolute  monarch,  govern¬ 
ing  by  unfixed  principles,  or  worse,  caprices,  and 
their  relations  to  a  monarch  governing  by  a  consti¬ 
tution  and  fixed  laws.  There  can  be  no  true  civil¬ 
ization  under  absolute  or  cruel  laws.  Neither  the 
intelligence,  the  enterprise  nor  the  virtue  of  a  peo¬ 
ple  can  be  developed  under  such  a  system  ;  while 
mild,  fixed  and  intelligible  laws  encourage  sagacity, 
activity  and  confidence,  and  produce  order,  virtue 
and  happiness.  Thus  the  Mosaic  ritual,  in  place  of 
the  capricious,  vague  and  fatalistic  religions  which 
prevailed,  with  their  unfixed,  unknown  and  shifting 
ends  and  objects,  presented  a  settled,  legal,  intel¬ 
ligible,  though  a  formal  and  an  external  system  of 
worship.  If  it  looks  stern,  material,  complex,  from 
our  Christian  side  of  it,  it  looks  mild,  spiritual 
and  simple  from  the  other  heathen  side.  We  must 
consider  what  it  supplanted  to  do  it  justice  ;  and  also 
what  has  now,  by  the  grace  of  God,  supplanted  it. 

The  object,  then,  of  the  sacrificial  system  of  the 
Jews  was,  first,  to  turn  to  use,  modify  and  refine,  the 
rude  elements  of  expression,  which  in  those  ages, 
the  worship  of  the  Gods  had  every  where,  in  obedi¬ 
ence  to  the  laws  of  human  nature,  taken  on.  Those 
elements  were  cruel,  coarse  and  physical  ;  but 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


25 


they  involved  self  denial  and  self  sacrifice,  by  lead 
ing  men  to  do,  in  honor  of  the  Gods,  what  was  most 
repugnant  to  their  instincts  of  self  preservation,  and 
of  property.  Men  marked  their  sense  of  the  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  Gods  and  themselves,  by  revers¬ 
ing  all  their  own  feelings,  when  they  attempted  to 
think  of  them.  Thus  the  worship  of  ugliness,  of  ca¬ 
price,  of  cruelty  arose  in  the  world.  God  must  be 
feared  before  he  could  be  loved  ;  must  be  obeyed 
before  he  could  be  understood  ;  and  the  native  ele¬ 
ments  and  self  chosen  symbols  of  worship,  the 
bloody  alphabet,  in  which  the  heathens  had  stam¬ 
mered  out  their  worship,  had  to  be  adopted  by  Mo¬ 
ses,  when  he  came  to  purify  and  enlighten  the  relig¬ 
ion  of  the  world.  What  he  made  this  alphabet  say, 
is  what  should  measure  our  sense  of  his  greatness. 
The  ten  commandments  were  worthy  of  a  revela¬ 
tion  !  To  provide  for  their  observance  and  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  the  people  in  them,  involved  the  ma¬ 
chinery  of  the  whole  Mosaic  system.  And  while 
the  end  is  always  exalted  and  noble  and  worthy  of 
God,  the  means  are  on  the  level  of  the  age,  intended 
to  meet  the  existing  barbarism  of  society,  and  to 
encourage  the  usages  and  customs  of  the  time. 
The  Mosaic  system,  instead  of  being  what  it  is  com¬ 
monly  made  out,  the  inauguration  of  the  sacrificial 


26 


HENRY  IV.  BELLOWS. 


system,  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  it.  It  took 
that  system  (which  begun  in  human  sacrifice,  and 
had  become,  by  degrees,  softened  into  a  sacrifice, 
chiefly,  of  animals)  and  so  regulated,  restrained,  hu¬ 
manized  and  diminished  it ;  so  interpreted  and  mixed 
in  with  it  clean  ideas  and  moral  meaning,  that  it 
may  be  said  to  have  been  doomed  to  decay  from  its 
very  origin  !  Like  limiting  the  extension  of  slavery, 
as  the  best  means  of  extinguishing  it  in  the  end, 
Moses  limited  the  vague  and  vast  system  of  sacri¬ 
fices,  as  the  best  means  of  ultimately  destroying 
it ;  and  as  the  advocates  of  slavery  saw  that  the  ed¬ 
ucation  of  the  slave,  was  the  inevitable  rupture  of 
his  chains,  and  so  discouraged  it,  so  Moses  saw  that 
the  moral  and  spiritual  significance  attributed  to 
the  sacrifices  of  the  law,  or  the  education  of  the 
system,  was  to  be  the  irrepressible  cause  of  its  ulti¬ 
mate  subsidence.  You  will  also  carry  in  your  minds, 
the  other  main  thought — that  sacrifices  were  de¬ 
signed  to  give  a  sensible  and  emphatic  popular 
expression  of  the  ideas — 

1.  that  God’s  service  is  costly,  and  not  to  be  ren¬ 
dered  without  sacrifice  of  feeling  and  property. 

2.  That  sin  is  his  abhorrence  ;  and  to  be  either  abol¬ 
ished  or,  at  any  rate,  covered,  before  his  favor  can 
be  expected  or  his  presence  sought. 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


27 


3.  That  notwithstanding  man’s  sinfulness  and  ill 
desert,  there  is  a  method  by  which  God  allows  him¬ 
self  to  be  approached,  propitiated  and  made  friend¬ 
ly  even  to  sinners. 

These  seem  to  me  the  three  great  ideas  involved 
in  the  Jewish  ritual,  considered  as  a  sacrificial  sys¬ 
tem  : 

1.  God’s  majesty  and  holiness,  deserve  and  re¬ 
quire  costly  recognition  and  obedience. 

2.  Man’s  sins  are  a  perpetual  disobedience  and  de¬ 
spite  to  God,  and  erect  a  mighty  barrier  between 
men  and  their  Sovereign. 

3.  But  God  has  graciously  devised  a  method  by 
which  men  may  retain  His  favor,  seek  His  presence 
and  find  His  face.  And  that  method  is  the  costly 
confession  and  expiation  of  their  sins,  by  a  system 
of  significant,  educating  sacrifices— a  system  which 
while  it  keeps  the  door  to  God’s  presence  constantly 
open,  is  designed  continually  to  mark  and  empha¬ 
size  his  hatred  of  sin. 

That  the  picture-language  or  institutional  hiero¬ 
glyphics,  in  which  these  permanent  and  eternal  truths 
were  taught  in  the  Mosaic  ritual,  was  destined  final¬ 
ly  to  give  way  to  an  enlightened  spirit  which  no 
longer  needed  the  symbol,  is  sufficiently  obvious  in 
the  literature  of  the  Jews,  in  which  the  strongest 


28 


HENRY  W.  BELLO  IV S. 


expressions  are  found,  at  last,  of  the  uselessness  of 
all  sacrifices  of  oxen,  goats  and  rams,  when  made  a 
substitute  for  the  obedience  of  the  heart.  No  more 
intelligent  or  spiritual  appreciation  of  the  inner 
meaning  of  the  law  is  any  where  to  be  found,  than 
in  the  writings  of  the  prophets  themselves.  Those, 
however,  who  would  have  us  believe  that  at  the 
start,  the  Jews  were  expected  to  understand  this 
spiritual  significance ;  that  formality  was  not  incul¬ 
cated  deliberately ;  that  they  were  not  expected 
and  permitted  to  substitute  a  legal  for  a  moral  puri¬ 
ty,  are  greatly  wanting  in  candor,  and  equally  lack¬ 
ing  in  appreciation  of  the  circumstances.  Forms 
and  substitutes  and  shadows  of  things  to  come,  were 
deliberately  made  a  part  of  the  educational  system 
of  Mosaism.  “  Assume  a  virtue  if  you  have  it  not,” 
was  one  of  the  civilizing  teachings  of  the  law.  If 
you  are  not  penitent,  you  must  at  least  express 
your  sense  of  the  need  of  penitenee. 

It  becomes  easy  now  to  see  how  the  ideas,  lan¬ 
guage  and  symbolism  of  this  sacrificial  system  have 
been  passed  over  into  the  Gospel.  The  real  wonder 
to  me  is  not  that  it  occupies  a  considerable  place  in 
the  New  Testament,  but  that  it  does  not  fill  a  far 
larger  place,  and  color  its  whole  language.  The 
writers  of  that  book  were  all  Jews,  educated  in 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


29 


the  sacrificial  system ;  the  subject  of  the  book  was 
a  Jew,  and  hence  the  very  object  of  its  prophecies 
and  hopes.  There  was  the  most  intimate  relation 
therefore  between  the  men  of  the  old  system  and 
the  men  of  the  new  ;  between  the  ideas  of  the  old 
system  and  the  ideas  of  the  new.  That  Jesus  Christ 
came  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  sacrificial  system ; 
that  what  it  did  for  the  Jews,  He  was  henceforth  to 
do  for  His  disciples  and  the  world,  was  a  most  true, 
and  it  was  a  most  affecting  and  interesting  idea. 
The  sacrificial  system  of  old,  atoned  for  sin  : 
that  is,  it  opened  a  way  to  God’s  love  and  favor,  in 
spite  of  sin  ;  and  this  was  just  what  Christ  came  to 
express  and  prove  in  a  new  and  more  affecting  way  : 
namely,  the  mercy  of  God,  His  love  for  His  children 
in  spite  of  their  sins,  His  desire  to  have  them  come 
to  Him  and  trust  Him  and  believe  in  His  love  and 
mercy,  independently  of  their  merits  and  goodness. 
But  this  idea  was  to  be  made  known  to  men,  under 
circumstances,  which  while  it  revealed  God  in  all 
His  loveliness  and  mercy,  should  show  sin  in  all  its 
hatefulness;  while  it  exhibited  God  as  the  friend 
and  lover  of  sinners,  should  show  Him  as  the  hater 
of  sin  itself. 

It  is  obvious  then  that  the  objects  of  the  Mosaic 
and  of  the  Christian  systems  were  really  identical, 


30 


HENRY  IV.  BELLOWS. 


and  differed  only  in  the  way  in  which  the  same  ideas 
were  clothed  and  adapted  to  different  stages  of  hu¬ 
man  want  and  character.  In  the  law,  God’s  justice 
stood  in  the  shape  of  a  stern  and  positive  require¬ 
ment  of  perfect  obedience  ;  His  mercy  in  the  shape 
of  a  sacrificial  system,  by  which  the  way  of  His  for¬ 
giveness  and  favor,  was  kept  open  in  spite  of  hu¬ 
man  sins.  In  the  Gospel,  God’s  justice  stands  in 
the  name  of  the  absolute  exactions  of  that  eternal 
and  changeless  law  of  right,  stamped  on  the  cons¬ 
cience,  irrepealable  and  inviolable — His  mercy,  in 
the  mission,  character  and  whole  work  of  Jesus 
Christ,  whose  end  and  object  is  the  embodiment  and 
illustration  of  the  truth,  that,  while  God’s  nature  and 
holiness  and  will  are  forever  demanding  and  enforc¬ 
ing  a  perfect  moral  and  spiritual  obedience,  He  all 
the  while  loves  His  sinful  children;  that  while  He 
hates  their  sins,  he  loves  them  ;  that  while  He  can¬ 
not  spare  their  sins,  He  spares  them  ;  that  He  will 
continue  to  bless  and  love  them  in  spite  of  their 
sins,  as  a  fresh  means  of  melting  them  into  obedi¬ 
ence,  and  into  the  putting  away  of  all  rebellious  and 
unholy  dispositions. 

There  was  nothing  necessary  to  God  in  the  sacri¬ 
ficial  system  of  the  Jews  ;  it  was  purely  for  men’s 
sake,  not  for  His  own,  that  a  way  was  opened 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT . 


31 


through  the  sacrifices  of  oxen  and  goats.  God’s 
disposition  or  ability  to  forgive  upon  repentance 
was  not  in  the  least  changed  or  affected.  It  was 
only  made  known  and  symbolically  expressed.  No 
change  in  God’s  mind  or  heart  or  government  is 
ever  possible.  Successive  revelations  of  Him,  only 
gradually  unfold  a  policy,  a  nature,  a  character  which 
is  eternal  and  unchangeable.  There  was  nothing 
real,  therefore,  in  the  sacrificial  or  substitutional  sys¬ 
tem  of  Judaism,  except  its  educational  tendencies. 
It  expressed  in  the  shape  of  promises  and  obliga¬ 
tions,  feelings  and  dispositions,  originally  and  un¬ 
alterably  existing  in  the  divine  mind.  As  if  a  father 
said  to  his  child,  “  my  son,  if  you  come  to  me  and 
confess  your  fault  and  show  the  sincerity  of  your 
confession  by  some  act  of  costliness,  I  shall  forgive 
you  and  take  you  to  my  favor.”  Does  the  father’s 
love  for  his  child  and  readiness  to  forgive  him  de¬ 
pend  upon  this  repentance  and  external  indication 
of  it,  or  does  not  the  father  (already  dearly  loving 
his  child,  and  perhaps  all  the  more  on  account  of 
his  blindness  and  folly)  establish  this  means,  and  en¬ 
ter  into  this  promise,  for  the  sake  of  reforming  the 
child,  not  for  the  sake  of  being  able  to  feel  an  inter¬ 
est  in  him  ? 

Still  more  is  it  true,  that  Christ’s  mission — His 


32 


HENRY  IV.  BELLO  W S. 


life,  teachings,  death,  were  not  in  the  least  degree 
necessary  to  make  God  propitious  to  men,  or  to  en¬ 
able  Him  to  forgive  them,  or  to  effect  any  change 
whatever  in  the  changeless  and  ever  perfect  mind 
and  all  loving  heart  of  God,  but  merely  to  express 
this  forgiveness,  this  loving  kindness  and  tender 
mercy  in  the  most  affecting  and  moving  way,  for  the 
sake  of  his  sinful,  alienated  and  hapless  offspring. 

The  sacrificial  ritual  of  Moses,  was  the  rhetoric 
of  God’s  mercy,  written  in  symbolic  institutions  ; 
the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  God’s  educational 
mercy  incarnated  in  flesh  and  blood ;  God’s  eter¬ 
nal  word,  spoken  in  the  shape  of  a  long  devoted, 
self-immolated  Elder  Brother  who  gave  Himself  for 
us  to  bring  us  to  God  ;  who  lived  and  taught  and 
died  to  persuade  men  of  God’s  love  and  mercy,  and 
to  induce  them  to  love  and  serve  Him  with  all  their 
minds  and  all  their  wills  and  all  their  hearts. 

The  wonder  is  not,  under  these  circumstances, 
that  a  parallel  should  be  seen  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  between  Christ’s  sacrifice,  and  the  sacrifices 
of  the  law;  that  His  blood  should  be  compared 
with  the  blood  of  lambs  and  goats,  or  that  the  Chris¬ 
tian  world  should  have  fastened  on  this  parallel  and 
endeavored  out  of  it,  to  elaborate  that  complicated 
system,  which  has  since  obtained  possession  of 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


33 


Christendom,  but  which  we  justly  refuse  to  receive. 
The  wonder  is  that  the  New  Testament  is  not 
steeped  in  this  language,  instead  of  being  singularly 
free  from  it.  Nothing  but  Christ’s  entire  superior¬ 
ity  to  the  literalism  of  Judaism,  His  own  exalted 
and  perfect  spirituality,  accounts  for  the  fact,  that 
hardly  a  reference  is  made  to  the  sacrificial  system 
(except  to  condemn  it)  in  the  three  first  Gospels  ; 
that  it  is  first  referred  to  in  any  pointed  way,  by  St. 
John,  not  till  sixty  years  after  Christ’s  ascension  ; 
that  it  is  occasionally  hinted  at,  and  more  seldom 
directly  employed  by  the  writers  of  the  Epistles, 
and  only  carefully  elaborated  by  an  unknown  writer, 
in  an  epistle  exclusively  intended  for  Jews  in  what 
is  called,  but  is  not,  Paul’s  epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 

r 

Probably,  but  for  this  unauthentic  epistle,  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  would  have  escaped  the  dominion  of 
this  idea  in  some  considerable  degree. 

I  cannot  think,  however,  that  the  sacrificial  sys¬ 
tem,  which  has  thus  crept  over  into  Christian  theol¬ 
ogy,  has  been  without  its  beneficial  effects.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  Christian  world,  in  past  ages, 
was  just  as  incapable  of  understanding  the  simplic¬ 
ity  of  Christ’s  doctrine,  as  the  Jews  were  of  under¬ 
standing  the  Ten  Commandments,  which,  to  pro¬ 
duce  any  impression  or  obtain  any  influence,  had  to^ 


34 


HENRY  W.  BELLOWS. 


be  guarded  by,  and  enforced  in  the  whole  mechan¬ 
ical  system  of  the  Mosaic  ritual.  I  cannot  help  re¬ 
garding  the  theological  system  of  Christendom — 

t 

its  Trinitarian  and  its  sacrificial  theology — as  the 
only  machinery  under  which  the  perfectly  simple, 
but  exalted,  and  therefore,  slowly  appreciated  idea 
of  Jesus  Christ  could  be  symbolized  and  dramatised, 
and  so  worked  into  the  dull  mind  of  our  race.  I 
find  in  short,  no  more  difficulty  in  seeing  the  simple 
and  rational  and  scriptural  ideas  of  the  Gospel, 
through  the  theological  and  ecclesiastical  clothes 
they  have  worn  these  eighteen  centuries  past,  than 
in  seeing  the  Gospel  in  the  law  of  Moses,  for  it  is 
there,  if  God,  the  unchangeable  Father  is  there. 
Thus,  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  (which  we  utterly 
discard)  is  only  a  crude  attempt  to  express  the  per¬ 
fection  of  the  Divine  character.  If  you  put  God’s 
justice  in  a  being  called  the  Father,  and  God’s  mer¬ 
cy  in  another  being  called  the  Son,  and  God’s  yearn¬ 
ing  towards  humanity  in  another  being  called  the 
the  Holy  Spirit,  you  must,  in  order  to  get  all  these 
divine  attributes  back  into  one  Being,  declare  these 
three  persons  to  be  one  God.  The  broken  rays  of 
the  light  of  God’s  countenance,  are  thus  artificially 
brought  together  again.  It  may  seem  a  sort  of 
child’s  play,  to  say  that  God  cannot  do  in  one  char- 


THE  SACRIFICIAL  ELEMENT. 


35 


acter,  what  He  is  able  to  do  in  another— that  He 
cannot  do  as  the  Father,  what  He  can  do  as  the 
Son  ;  but  it  is  certainly  better  if  His  mercy  is  ex¬ 
pressed  only  in  Jesus  Christ,  to  make  Jesus  Christ 
out  to  be  God,  than  to  deny  mercy  to  be  in  God. 
And  so  with  the  atonement  as  popularly  received. 
If  men  will  not  or  cannot  believe  God  willing  to  for¬ 
give  sin,  from  the  tenderness  and  mercy  of  His  own 
character,  then  it  is  better  they  should  have  some 
way  of  believing  it  possible,  even  if  they  adopt  the 
theory  that  He  forgives  it  for  the  sake  of  Christ’s 
blood.  The  grand  thing  is  to  believe  it  ;  and  if 
this  doctrine  helps  them  they  will  continue  to  use 
it  while  they  need  it.  We  are  able  to  discard  Trinity 
and  atonement,  as  not  essential  to  our  faith  in  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  We  believe  with¬ 
out  difficulty  in  the  Father’s  mercy,  and  so,  are  not 
driven  to  make  Christ  God,  to  find  mercy  in  the 
Creator;  and  we  believe  in  the  eternal  placability  of 
our  Father,  and  so  need  no  faith  in  the  placating 
efficacy  of  Christ’s  blood,  to  establish  our  confidence. 
What  it  becomes  us  to  consider  is,  that  our  simple 
system  of  faith  (which  I  believe  is  Christ’s  own)  is, 
nevertheless,  one  which  could  not  have  prevailed 
earlier,  but  was  inevitably  dramatized  and  conveyed 
down  to  our  later  ages  by  the  symbols  and  forms  of 
the  church  universal.  Let  us  not  wonder  at  the 


36 


HENRY  IV.  BELLO  W  S. 


slowness  of  its  progress,  nor  be  impatient  at  what 
we  call  the  errors,  which  are  rather  to  be  considered 
as  the  inevitable  accommodations  and  ritualising  of 
the  simplicity  of  Christ.  I  think  this  view  of  the 
Mosaic  system  of  sacrifices,  and  of  the  rhetorical 
echo  it  has  found  in  the  ecclesiastic  and  dogmatic 
life  of  Christendom,  explains  fully  the  language 
of  the  New  Testament,  vindicates  the  provi¬ 
dence  of  God,  shows  the  unchangeableness  of  His 
character  and  dispositions,  increases  our  charity  for 
other  Christians  by  interpreting  the  natural  and 
unavoidable  existence  of  the  current  theology,  while 
it  substantially  justifies  and  places  on  its  solid  foun¬ 
dations  that  rational  system  of  faith,  which  sees 
nothing  literal  in  the  efficacy  of  Christ’s  sacrifice, 
and  nothing  permanent  in  the  common  theory  of 
the  atonement :  but  believes  and  maintains  that 
God  was  always  both  just  and  merciful!  always 
ready  to  forgive  the  penitent  ;  always  the  infinite 
lover  of  His  offspring,  and  that  Christ  is  the  human 
image  and  incarnation  of  His  perfect  and  unalter¬ 
able  tenderness  towards  His  creatures. 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS ; 


THEIR  DIFFERENCES  AND  THEIR  ESSENCE. 


By  Rev.  CYRUS  D.  FOSS,  D.  D. 


John  XX.  31. — “But  these  are  written  that  ye 

MIGHT  BELIEVE  THAT  JESUS  IS  THE  CHRIST,  THE  SON  OF 

God  ;  and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life 
through  His  name.” 

The  things  referred  to  here  are  the  signs  spoken 
of  in  the  previous  verse  :  “  And  many  other  signs 
truly  did  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  His  disciples 
which  are  not  written  in  this  book.”  These  signs 
were  the  post-resurrection  appearances  of  Jesus; 
and  were  intended  to  produce  faith  in  him  as  being 
the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God  and  the  real  Saviour 
of  sinners.  Beyond  all  question  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  is  the  crucial  fact  on  which  the  Scriptures  rest 
the  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  An 


38 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


inspired  Apostle,  the  most  logical  of  them  all,  rea¬ 
sons  about  it  on  this  wise:  “  If  Christ  be  not  raised 
your  faith  is  vain,  and  our  preaching  vain  ;  ye  are 
yet  in  your  sins  ;  they  also  that  have  fallen  asleep 
in  Christ  have  perished.”  Thus  the  Scriptures  rest 
upon  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  the  whole  sys¬ 
tem  of  Christianity.  If  that  fails  us  there  is  no 
gospel  and  our  faith  is  utterly  vain.  I  may  there¬ 
fore  without  any  straining  of  these  words  which 
constitute  the  text  make  them  apply  to  the  whole 
of  the  four  Gospels, — the  four  records  of  the  earthly 
life  of  Jesus  Christ, — and  may  say  that  all  these 
records  are  for  the  same  purpose  as  the  account  of 
the  resurrection,  which  is  the  seal  and  crown  of  the 
whole.  So  if  Jesus’  resurrection  was  intended  to 
prove  Him  to  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  a 
life-giving  Saviour,  the  same  is  true  of  the  whole  of 
the  records  given  us  by  the  four  evangelists. 

I  desire  now  by  the  help  of  that  Holy  Ghost,  whose 
presence  and  aid  we  all  invoke,  to  lead  your  thoughts 
to  a  birds-eye  view  of  the  four  Gospels,  especially  as 
they  are  illumined  by  what  Pressense  impressively 
terms  “the  fifth  Gospel” — that  is  the  history  of 
Christianity.  And  I  shall  strive  to  point  out  in  the 
first  place,  the  differences  between  the  four  Gospels 
and  the  characteristics  of  each  ;  and  then  to  make  a 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


39 


summary  statement  of  the  essence  of  their  teaching 
concerning  the  person  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

I.  First  let  us  notice  the  characteristic  differences 
of  the  Four  Gospels. 

The  inquiry  thus  suggested  leads  us  at  the  out¬ 
set  to  ask  ;  Why  four  Gospels?  Why  more  than 
one?  Why  did  not  God  inspire  some  one  of  the 
four  Evangelists  to  give  us  a  complete  biography  of 
Jesus  Christ  ;  of  every  word  he  uttered  and  of 
every  act  he  performed?  We  should  then  have 
avoided  the  necessity  of  seeking  for  that  minute 
and  perfect  harmony  between  the  different  records 
which  has  been  the  effort  and  the  despair  of  all  com¬ 
mentators.  There  is  a  question  logically  anterior 
to  this,  which  we  will  consider  for  a  moment ;  what 
is  the  object  of  any  Gospel  ?  The  answer  is  given 
us  in  the  text.  It  is  to  produce  faith  without  sight. 
It  is  to  awaken  in  the  minds  of  men  a  vivid  concep¬ 
tion  of,  and  a  firm  belief  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
whom  the  vast  majority  of  the  race  have  never  seen, 
and  will  never  see  until  the  judgment  day.  Now  so 
much  as  this  is  plain  I  am  sure ;  to  bring  about  this 
result,  it  is  best  that  the  record  or  records  should 
come  through  men.  It  is  not  the  dry  and  splendid 
tight  of  the  intellect  alone  that  we  want  on  this 
lheme  ;  it  is  the  warm  light  and  vivid  coloring  of 


40 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


truth  incarnated,  living,  moving,  and  breathing 
before  our  eyes.  God  does  not  therefore  write  the 
Gospel  on  two  tables  of  stone,  as  he  did  most  fitly 
the  law  ;  but  on  “  the  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart.” 
Nor  do  angelic  scribes  hand  down  a  perfect  biogra¬ 
phy  of  Jesus  from  the  skies.  No:  human  beings 
can  best  receive  and  be  most  profited  by  a  Gospel 
which  human  minds  have  received,  which  human 
hearts  have  felt,  which  human  hands  have  written, 
tingling  as  they  wrote.  So  God  has  been  pleased 
to  reveal  himself  in  this  way. 

But  why  more  than  one  record  ?  Because  no  one 
human  mind  can  take  in  the  whole  Gospel,  and, 
hence,  no  one  mind  can  give  it  out.  There  are 
several  sides  to  the  life  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ 
just  as  of  any  other  man.  If  you  wish  to  find  out 
about  John  Wesley,  you  are  not  content  to  read 
Watson’s  brief  memoir  ;  nor  the  fuller  records 
contained  in  Stevens’  admirable  “  History  of  the 
Religious  Movement  of  the  Eighteenth  Century, 
called  Methodism  ;  ”  nor  the  three  portly  volumes 
of  Tyerman’s  most  disenchanting  yet  wondrously 
enchanting  biography.  You  read  all  these.  You 
read  also  Wesley’s  journals,  and  his  letters  and  his 
sermons  and  everything  you  can  find  that  he  has 
penned  ;  and  thus  going  about  him  on  all  sides,  and 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


41 


considering  him  under  all  circumstances,  at  last  you 
find  out  the  man. 

I  hold  it  to  be  a  remarkable  arrangement  in  the 
divine  economy  that  we  have  several  Gospels  instead 
of  one.  I  say  “arrangement”  for  I  cannot  believe 
that  He  who  watches  the  fall  of  every  sparrow,  and 
numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads,  has  left  the  number 
of  records  of  the  life  and  death  and  glorious  resur¬ 
rection  of  His  only  son  to  be  the  result  of  accident. 
Each  of  the  Evangelists  received  ^such  impressions 
concerning  Christ  as  were  adapted  to  his  own  nature 
and  wants,  and  within  the  range  of  his  capacity,  and 
each  reproduced  his  impressions  in  his  narrative’.  I 
therefore  like  the  titles  “  The  Gospel  according  to 
St.  Matthew”  etc.  It  is  what  Matthew  saw  and 
felt  of  the  Gospel,  and  so  of  the  rest.  And  there 
was  a  difference.  Some  acts  and  words  of  Jesus 
especially  arrested  the  attention  of  one  of  them  ; 
some,  of  another.  Each  records  some  things  which 
all  the  others  omit.  Each  omits  some  things  which 
others  record. 

Note  some  of  the  things  for  which  we  are  in¬ 
debted  to  only  a  single  one  of  the  Evangelists. 
Matthew  alone  gives  us  in  their  completeness,  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  Commission  of  the 
Apostles,  the  discourse  concerning  John,  the  de- 


42 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


nunciation  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees ;  and  the 
parables  of  the  tares,  the  hid  treasure,  the  pearl,  the 
draw  net,  the  unmerciful  servant,  the  laborers  in  the 
vineyard,  the  two  sons,  the  marriage  of  the  King’s 
son,  the  talents  and  the  ten  virgins.  Mark  is  to  be 
credited  with  no  considerable  additional  matter, 
(having  given  us  but  one  parable  unrecorded  else¬ 
where,  viz :  the  one  illustrating  the  great  law  of 
spiritual  growth  “first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after 
that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear:  ”)  but  he  has  numer¬ 
ous  vivid  descriptive  touches,  which  serve  the 
double  purpose  of  making  his  narrative  most  real 
and  life-like  and  of  carrying  conviction  that  he  was 
an  eye-witness :  such  as  these  ;  “  There  was  no 
more  room,  no,  not  so  much  as  about  the  door:  ” — 
“  The  blind  man  cast  away  his  garments  and  leaped 
up  and  came  to  Jesus:”  “He  looked  on  them 
with  anger;” — “  He  was  looking  around  to  see  her 
that  had  done  this  thing :  ” — “  Jesus  sat  over  against 
the  treasury.”  Luke  alone  gives  us  the  parentage 
and  birth  of  John  the  Baptist;  the  details  of  Jesus’ 
birth ;  the  hymns  of  Zacharias,  the  Virgin  Mary 
and  Simeon;  the  single  recorded  incident  in  Jesus’ 
boyhood,  and  the  most  instructive  statement  that  he 
was  still  “  subject  unto  his  parents,”  and  that  “  he 
increased  in  wisdom  and  stature  and  in  favor  with 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


43 


God  and  man  ;  ”  and  the  full  narrative  of  the  ascen¬ 
sion,  (Mark  having  only  announced  the  fact.)  He 
alone  tells  us  of  the  widow  at  Nain,  the  ten  lepers, 
the  healing  of  the  ear  of  Malchus,  the  two  debtors, 
the  good  Samaritan,  the  friend  at  midnight,  the  in¬ 
tercession  for  the  barren  fig  tree,  the  Pharisee  and 
the  publican,  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus;  of  Jesus’ 
visit  to  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  of  the  ministering 
woman  who  accompanied  our  Lord  through  Galilee, 
of  the  first  miraculous  draught  of  fishes ;  and  of  the 
lost  silver,  the  lost  sheep  and  the  lost  son.  John’s 
Gospel  is  freighted  with  more  riches  peculiar  to  itself 
than  all  the  others  put  together.  I  cannot  here 
even  indicate,  much  less  cite,  a  tithe  of  the  unique 
treasures  of  this  most  wonderful  Gospel.  Its  first 
utterance  reveals  its  essence.  It  is  preeminently 
the  Gospel  of  the  Word.  It  shows  us  not  so  much 
God  working  as  God  spoken.  “  As  in  the  synopti¬ 
cal  Gospels  the  Incarnate  Son  is  mainly  displayed  to 
us  in  the  operative  majesty  of  outwardly-exercised 
omnipotence,  so  in  the  fourth  Gospel  he  is  mainly 
revealed  to  us  in  the  majesty  of  conscious  unity  with 
the  Eternal  Father.”  The  very  marked  peculiarity 
of  the  biography  of  Jesus  by  his  bosom-friend  will 
be  sufficiently  suggested  if  we  remember  that  it 
gives  his  discourses  much  the  most  fully;  forex- 


44 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


ample,  that  on  “  the  bread  of  life,”  the  one  to  the 
woman  at  the  well,  and  his  valedictory  address 
(filling  three  long  chapters;)  and  still  further, 
while  the  other  Gospels  account  for  less  than  two 
years  of  Christ’s  public  ministry  and  that  chiefly  in 
Galilee,  this  shows  us  a  ministry  of  about  three 
years,  a  large  part  of  it  in  or  near  Jerusalem. 

Consider  also  the  different  characteristics  of  the 
four  men  and  of  their  styles,  and  then  tell  me 
whether  “  these  four  holy  pictures,  painted  by  four 
loving  hands,  of  him  who  was  ‘  fairer  than  the  sons 
of  men,’  were  not  given  us  that  by  varying  our 
postures  we  might  catch  new  beauties  and  fresh 
glories.”  Matthew  was  a  tax-gatherer ;  chosen 
doubtless  to  that  office  because  he  had  in  some 
other  occupation  displayed  the  qualities  of  attention 
and  method.  How  naturally  might  we  expect  from 
such  a  man  skilful  groupings  of  events  and  a  well- 
ordered  narrative.  There  are  in  particular  three 
very  signal  examples  of  profoundly  instructive  and 
artistically  perfect  groupings  of  Jesus’  words  and 
deeds;  of  parables  in  the  thirteenth  chapter;  of 
prophecies  in  the  twenty-fourth  and  twenty-fifth ; 
and  “the  glorious  garland  of  miracles”  in  the  eighth 
and  ninth.  Every  author  has  his  peculiarities  of 
style.  Matthew’s  is  antithesis.  He  tells  us  in  close 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


45 


proximity  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  and  the  bloody 
Herod  ;  of  the  adoring  Magi  and  the  flight  into 
Egypt  ;  of  the  marvelously  beautiful  baptism  and 
the  terribly  tragic  temptation.  Mark  had  an  im¬ 
pulsive  nature.  He  was  a  second  Peter.  He  wrote 
under  Peter’s  eye  and  like  Peter,  once  at  least,  fell 
away  ;  twice ,  Chrysostom  thought  and  also  Gregory 
the  Great  and  others,  believing  Mark  to  be  the 
young  man  with  the  hastily-seized  linen  garment 
who  followed  a  little  way  and  then  fled.  He  held  a 
graphic  pen,  and  loved  the  circumstantial  in  word, 
gesture  and  look.  He  was  the  most  realistic  of  the 
Gospel  painters.  I  have  already  given  several  in¬ 
stances  of  that  vivid  and  minute  fidelity  which  is 
almost  impossible  in  romance  and  which  stamps  the 
second  Gospel  as  a  veritable  statement  of  facts  wit¬ 
nessed  by  its  author.  Who  but  an  eye-witness 
would  have  written  thus,  “  The  waves  were  beating 
into  the  ship,  and  he  was  in  the  hinder  part  of  the 
ship  asleep  on  a  pillow?”  Luke  was  a  physician 
and  a  man  of  culture  ;  the  only  Gentile  among  the 
Evangelists ;  a  reflective  man,  qualified  to  discern 
and  record  motives,  as  he  often  did  ;  eminently  fit¬ 
ted  to  give  us  the  connections  of  events;  and  so  it 
has  been  said  that  while  Matthew  wrote  a  narrative  ; 
and  Mark,  memoirs  ;  Luke  wrote  a  history.  John 


46 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


was  the  theologian,  the  holy  mystic,  the  apostle  of 
absolute  truth,  the  adoring  lover  of  his  Lord  and  so 
most  like  him. 

These  different  characters  of  the  men  together 
with  the  specially  different  objects  of  their  writings, 
the  great  purpose  being  all  the  while  the  same,  gave 
to  their  works  very  different  characteristics.  We 
can  only  glance  at  the  peculiarities  of  the  Gospels. 
The  Gospel  of  Matthew  was  primarily  the  Jews’ 
Gospel.  Matthew  was  a  pious  Jew,  and  while  his 
book  was  to  have  a  world-wide  interest,  it  evidently 
had  also  a  special  adaptation  to  those  of  his  own 
class  who  were  patiently  waiting  for  the  Messiah. 
It  was  an  important  part  of  his  purpose  to  invite 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  New  Testament  had 
its  roots  in  the  Old,  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ ;  and 
so  he  begins  with  the  genealogy  of  the  Saviour.  In 
his  first  chapter  he  traces  him  back,  step  by  step  all 
the  way  to  David.  In  the  second  he  gives  three 
distinct  fulfillments  of  prophecy,  and  so  he  chal¬ 
lenges  the  attention  and  the  faith  of  every  man 
who  believed  in  the  ancient  Scriptures. 

Mark’s  gospel  was  written  at  Rome,  probably 
under  the  influence  of  Peter,  and  it  has  just  as 
evident  an  adaptation  to  the  Roman  world.  The 
Roman  was  no  great  talker,  but  very  active — so 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


47 


Mark’s  gospel  is  eminently  the  gospel  of  action.  In 
Rome  it  was  customary  to  deify  heroes  for  their 
deeds,  and  if  it  was  proposed  to  enroll  some  new 
name  among  the  gods,  every  Roman  would  ask 
the  question  What  has  he  done?  Mark  therefore 
omits  the  genealogy  of  Christ,  mentions  his  baptism 
in  three  verses  and  his  temptation  in  two,  gives  no 
full  account  of  Christ’s  sermons,  but  proclaims  in 
the  ears  of  the  heathen  of  the  imperial  city  his 
mighty  acts.  In  his  first  chapter  we  have  a  narra¬ 
tive  of  three  distinct  miracles,  besides  the  general 
statement  that  “  He  healed  many  that  were  sick  of 
divers  diseases  and  cast  out  many  devils.” 

Luke  differs  from  both  these.  His  object  is 
more  comprehensive.  He  treats  of  the  sayings  of 
Jesus  more  particularly  than  Matthew  and  of  his 
deeds  more  particularly  than  Mark.  Matthew 
traces  Jesus  up  to  David;  Luke  traces  him  to 
Adam — it  it  not  merely  the  son  of  David,  it  is 
the  Son  of  Man,  whom  he  preaches  to  the  world. 
He  is  not  content  simply  to  tell  of  the  twelve  apos¬ 
tles,  but  of  the  seventy  disciples.  He  gives  us  the 
account  of  the  good  Samaritan,  and  makes  Jew  and 
Gentile  alike.  He  is  a  kind  of  Paul  among  the 
Evangelists,  teaching  that  salvation  is  as  wide  as 
the  world. 


48 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


Then  comes  John.  He  is  not  content  as  Mat¬ 
thew  was  to  trace  Jesus  back  to  David  ;  or  as  Luke 
was  to  trace  Him  back  to  Adam.  He  begins  at  the 
beginning:  “  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and 
the  Word  was  with  God  and  the  Word  was  God.” 
And  from  that  divine  starting  point,  he  shows  us 
the  meaning  of  Jesus’  predicted  name,  Immanuel 
(“  God  with  us.”)  Oh  !  this  wonderful  fourth  Gos¬ 
pel,  written  by  him  who  had  “leaned  on  Jesus’ 
bosom  ”  until  he  caught  the  richest  music  of  his 
throbbing,  divine-human  heart,  and  had  faithfully 
walked  with  him  long  after  all  the  other  apostles 
had  received  their  martyr-crowns !  Clement  calls 
it  “  the  Gospel  of  the  spirit ;  ”  Pressense,  “  the 
Gospel  of  the  idea  ;  ”  Emesti,  “  the  heart  of 
Christ  ;  ”  Augustine  says,  “  While  the  three  other 
evangelists,  remain  below  with  the  man  Christ 
Jesus,  and  speak  but  little  of  His  Godhead,  John, 
as  if  impatient  of  setting  his  foot  on  the  earth,  rises 
from  the  very  first  words  of  his  Gospel,  not  only 
above  earth,  and  the  span  of  air  and  sky,  but  above 
all  angels  and  invisible  powers,  till  he  reaches  Him 
by  whom  all  things  were  made.” 

Such  in  rapid  outline  are  some  of  the  differences 
between  the  Four  Gospels,  and  some  of  the  special 
characteristics  of  each. 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


49 


II.  In  the  second  place  let  us  inquire  after  the 
sum  and  essence  of  the  teachings  of  the  Four  Gospels , 
as  interpreted  by  that  “  fifth  Gospel  ”  which  the 
whole  history  of  Christianity  furnishes. 

Now  suppose  you  were  to  undertake  the  office  of 
giving  to  an  intelligent  and  thoughtful  heathen,  who 
had  never  studied  these  records,  an  answer  to  the 
question  who  is  Jesus?  What  is  the  statement  in 
these  records  ?  and  what  is  the  truth  of  the  records 
as  commented  on  and  more  fully  expounded  by  the 
history  of  the  Christian  religion  ?  what  is  their 
teaching  about  that  man  who  once  walked  the 
earth  ? 

i.  The  first  part  of  the  answer  to  this  question  I 
think  would  be  this.  These  five  Gospels — Mat¬ 
thew’s,  Mark’s,  Luke’s,  John’s  and  God’s — (these 
five  Gospels — the  four  and  the  sublime  commentary 
on  them  furnished  by  almost  nineteen  centuries  of 
Christian  history,)  teach,  to  begin  with,  that  Jesus 
was  the  most  wonderful  man  that  has  ever  lived  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth  ;  and  that  with  none  of  those 
appliances  for  becoming  famous  which  the  great 
men  of  the  world  have  had.  He  was  not  an  author ; 
he  was  not  a  scientist  ;  he  was  not  a  philosopher ; 

r 

nor  a  statesman  nor  a  warrior.  He  never  wrote  any 
books;  no  proclamations  ;  no  letters  ;  not  one  line 


5° 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS . 


nor  word  that  has  survived  him  ;  when  He  wrote, 
He  wrote  in  the  dust.  He  revealed  no  scientific 
truth  to  man  ;  no  new  philosophical  system  ;  no  arts 
of  diplomacy.  He  assumed  no  control  of  the  gov¬ 
ernments  of  the  world.  He  had  no  army,  no  sword  : 
He  rebuked  the  only  disciple  who  ever  drew  sword 
for  him  and  healed  the  mischief  that  the  sword  had 
wrought.  And  yet— somehow — this  man  has  made 
himself  more  famous  than  any  other  man.  Infidels 
admit  this.  I  state  the  fact  and  for  the  moment 
leave  it. 

You  would  also  have  to  say,  concerning  this  man 
Jesus,  that  he  was  a  man  of  a  unique  moral  and  in¬ 
tellectual  character;  that  in  these  respects  He  stands 
alone  among  men  in  this  world.  Let  me  tell  you 
what  his  enemies  said.  A  Roman  woman  wrote  to 
her  husband  “  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that 
just  man.”  That  weak-kneed  and  forever  infamous 
governor,  whose  name  is  known  to  the  world  only 
because  of  his  connection  with  Jesus,  said  concern¬ 
ing  Him  three  times  “  I  find  no  fault  in  him.”  His 
verdict  has  become  the  verdict  of  the  whole  skepti¬ 
cal  world:  “I  find  no  fault  in  him  at  all.”  Judas 
said  concerning  Him  “  I  have  shed  innocent  blood.” 
The  dying  thief  said  :  “  He  hath  done  nothing 

amiss.”  The  centurion  said:  “  Truly  this  man  was 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


5  1 


the  Son  of  God.”  And  He  Himself  said— and  His 
witness  is  true — “  Satan  cometh  and  hath  nothing 
in  me :  ”  and  “  Father  I  have  glorified  Thee  on 
earth  ;  I  have  finished  the  work  Thou  gavest  me  to 
do.” 

Not  only  is  he  morally  unique  among  the  sons  of 
men,  but  intellectually  also.  In  all  His  teachings 
that  have  been  reported  to  us  men  have  never  found 
one  error.  And  still  further,  they  have  never  added 
one  iota  to  His  teachings  on  moral  and  religious 
subjects.  Behold  him,  going  forth  into  this  world 
— a  map  of  which  He  had  never  seen, — moving 
about  among  men  immensely  His  superiors  in  all 
that  education  can  do,  pitched  upon  by  wary  law¬ 
yers  who  had  put  their  heads  together  to  puzzle 
Him.  Behold  Him  at  all  hours  subject  to  the  keen¬ 
est  inquisition  and  never  saying — no  matter  how 
profound  the  question — (as  our  judges  of  Courts  of 
Appeals — even  those  who  have  sat  on  the  bench 
forty  years  are  obliged  to  do — )  “  Decision  re¬ 

served.”  On  the  instant  this  wonderful  man  an¬ 
swered  all  questions,  and  not  only  answered  them 
correctly  but  in  his  brief  answers  brought  out  with¬ 
out  a  single  mistake  those  principles  of  casuistry 
that  have  for  eighteen  hundred  years  been  the  sol¬ 
vents  of  all  questions  of  conscience.  What  an 


52 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


intellect  had  He!  In  eighteen  centuries  during 
which  the  human  mind  has  been  immensely  and 
amazingly  busy,  men  have  not  added  to  his  teach¬ 
ings  one  jot.  If  any  man  challenges  this  statement, 
let  him  point  out  to  us  from  all  other  sources  the 
first  ray  of  moral  or  religious  truth  that  has  been 
added  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

2.  In  the  next  place  the  text  teaches  us  that  this 
“  Jesus  is  the  Christ .”  Every  Jew  understood  very 
well  what  that  meant :  to  begin  with,  that  He  was 
the  fulfillment,  (not  the  fulfiller  alone),  of  all  Mes¬ 
sianic  prophecy:  that  all  prophecy  about  the 
Messiah  from  the  beginning  is  to  meet  in  Him 
and  be  fulfilled  in  Him.  When  he  is  on  the  cross, 
He  is  represented  as  looking  down  the  line  of  proph¬ 
ets  to  know  if  any  one  has  uttered  the  least  word  of 
unfulfilled  prophecy  which  he  must  fulfill  before  He 
dies.  The  record  runs  thus  : 

“After  this,  Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  were 
now  accomplished,  that  the  Scriptures  might  be 
fulfilled,  saith  ‘  I  thirst.’  ” 

In  scanning  the  line  of  prophets  who  had  uttered 
Messianic  predictions,  beholding  the  face  of  David, 
He  sees  what  I  doubt  whether  David  did  see — one 
iota  of  prophecy — the  dotting  of  an  “  i,”  the  cross¬ 
ing  of  a  “t  ” — a  word  not  yet  fulfilled — “  I  thirst.” 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


53 


Then  was  fulfilled  that  apparantly  insignificant 
prophecy,  “  In  my  thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to 
drink.”  And  then  He  said  “It  is  finished,”  and 
gave  up  the  ghost.  All  prophecy  concerning  the 
Messiah  meets  and  is  fulfilled  in  Him. 

Another  thing  must  come  to  pass  ;  He  must  be 
that  wonderful  double  personage  ;  the  most  unique 
of  sufferers,  and  the  most  triumphant  of  monarchs. 
He  must  be  a  strange  individual,  only  one  side  of 
whom  the  Jews  could  see.  They,  looking  for  a 
monarch  who  should  make  them  the  kings  of  the 
world,  saw  only  one  side.  We  see  both.  As  we 
study  it,  the  fulfillment  which  He  gave  us  in  His 
life  and  character  are  amazing.  Read  Isaiah  (LIIl) 
— “  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground  ;  ”  “  despised  and 
rejected,”  “  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ;  ” — and  then 
go  back  and  read  “  unto  us  a  son  is  given  and  his 
name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the 
Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of 
Peace.  Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and  peace 
there  shall  be  no  end.”  Yet  this  mysterious  and 
most  incomprehensible  double  picture  is  perfectly 
realized  in  Jesus  Christ.  These  records  are  given 
us  to  show  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ. 

3.  Let  us  now  advance  another  step.  The  Mes¬ 
siah  Jesus  is  also  “  the  Son  of  God."  Suppose  that 


54 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS . 


in  my  place,  the  form  of  Jesus  Christ  were  standing 
here  to-day,  and  that  He,  looking  on  you  with  in¬ 
finitetenderness,  should  say  to  you,  “Whom  do  men 
say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am  ?  ”  What  would  be 
your  answer  ?  1  would  answer,  first  of  all,  O  Lord, 
they  are  busy  concerning  Thee  ;  in  eighteen  hundred 
years  they  have  not  forgotten  Thee.  O  brethren, 
the  world  very  well  knows  that  around  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ  the  battle  is  to  be  waged  on  whose 
issue  depends  the  Christian  religion.  They  do  not 
talk  much  about  Mohammed  now ;  not  much  of 
Confucius;  Julius  Caesar  and  Napoleon  the  Great 
are  nowhere  ;  men  do  not  care  for  them.  But  our 
libraries  are  full  of  books  about  Jesus.  Strauss  and 
Renan,  Pressense  and  Liddon — men  of  all  shades 
of  opinion — write  about  Him  and  inquire  about 
him.  The  world  is  full  of  this  wonderful  man. 
And,  further,  I  should  have  to  answer :  Some  say 
thou  art  a  fancy  portrait  ;  that  these  Evangelists 
struck  out  pictures,  with  their  rough  pencils,  which 
are  bright  and  beautiful  enough  for  the  world  to 
look  at  for  eighteen  hundred  years.  And  more  than 
that ;  that  this  fancy  portrait  has  changed  the 
face  of  the  world,  and  killed  polytheism  and  the 
old  civilization,  and  brought  in  the  new.  But  those 
who  say  this  are  so  contemptible  in  number  that  we 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


55 


leave  them.  Many  say  “  He  is  a  myth.”  They  say 
that  He  is  an  individual  like  Prometheus  who  per¬ 
haps  once  lived,  and  that  accumulated  imaginings 
have  gathered  about  Him  until  He  is  far  more  fancy 
than  fact,  and  that  this  is  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels. 
But  brethren,  no  myth  has  ever  been  possible  in  the 
world  sirtce  history  began.  A  myth  cannot  live  in 
the  light  of  history:  and  history  was  before  Jesus. 
When  Jesus  came  into  the  world  pens  wrote  ;  and 
there  were  public  transactions  of  empires.  Jesus 
was  not  a  myth. 

Then  suppose  He  should  say  “  Whom  say  ye  that 
I  am?”  I,  like  Peter,  would  be  the  glad  spokes¬ 
man  for  you  all  and  say,  “  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God.”  In  proof  let  us  consider, 
first,  His  testimony  about  Himself ;  secondly,  the 
affection  and  confidence  He  inspired  in  those  who 
knew  him  ;  last  of  all,  the  successes  He  has  achieved. 
The  argument  suggested  by  his  testimony  concern¬ 
ing  Himself  seems  to  me  irresistible.  The  disciples 
of  John  the  Baptist  said  to  him,  “  Art  Thou  He  that 
should  come  or  do  we  look  for  another  ?  ”  Jesus 
replied,  “  Go  tell  John  again  the  things  which  ye  do 
hear  and  see :  the  lame  walk,  the  blind  receive  their 
sight,  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  dead  are  raised  and 
the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them.” 


56  CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 

That  is  His  answer.  He  claimed  in  His  own  right 
to  work  miracles.  His  testimony  about  himself 
proves  Him  divine;  because  either  He  was  a  fanatic 
or  an  impostor  or  else  He  told  the  truth  ;  and  if  He 
told  the  truth  He  is  divine.  But  He  was  not  a  fa¬ 
natic  with  crazed  brain;  He  understood  himself. 
He  was  not  only  the  teacher  but  the  embodiment 
of  truth.  He  had  the  clearest  intellect  in  all  his¬ 
tory.  Was  He  an  imposter  ?  We  see  how  infidels 
themselves  have  given  that  up  ;  they  say  He  be¬ 
lieved  what  He  said  and  as  His  testimony  about 
Himself  proves  Himself  divine.  “  Si  Christus  non 
Deus,  non  bonus.” — If  Christ  be  not  God  he  is  not  a 
good  man. 

Consider  that  He  was  an  unlettered  Galilean.  His 
neighbors  said,  “  Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son 
of  Mary?  ”  And  behold,  His  power  over  his  disci¬ 
ples.  Look  at  St.  Paul !  at  his  willingness  to  preach 
at  Rome!  Rome  the  mistress  of  the  world,  that 
had  made  the  Mediterranean  Sea  “  a  Roman  lake,” 
girt  with  the  emblems  of,  humanly  speaking,  re¬ 
sistless  power.  You  know  how  the  word  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  law  from  the  Nile  to  the 
Thames.  You  know  how  tyrannical  power  was 
centered  in  the  Roman  throne.  There  is  now  in  one 
of  the  galleries  of  France  a  picture  representing  this 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


57 


idea  very  finely,  showing  you  the  amphitheatre  at 
Rome  crowded  with  its  eighty  thousand  spectators, 
and  a  gladiatorial  combat  going  on.  One  man,  hav¬ 
ing  brought  the  other  down,  with  raised  sword  he 
uplifts  his  eye  to  the  vestal  virgins  that  they  may 
signify  that  the  poor  wretch  is  to  live  or  die.  And 
they  turn  the  hand  to  say  “  Let  him  die.”  Power 
ground  to  powder  the  rights  of  men  and  made  the 
State  everything.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  those  scenes 
of  power  that  overspread  the  Roman  Empire,  I  find 
a  little,  homely,  uninteresting  man  writing  a  letter 
in  which  he  says  “  I  am  ready,  so  much  as  in  me 
lies  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you  that  are  at  Rome 
also  ;  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.” 
Oh,  what  a  marvelous  influence  was  the  knowledge 
of  this  person  on  those  that  believed  on  him. 

Then  as  to  his  success.  There  is  nothing  so  suc¬ 
cessful,  brethren,  as  success.  There  is  nothing  that 
carries  such  conviction,  as  the  logic  of  events.  Now 
has  Jesus  done  anything  on  this  planet  to  justify 
His  claims?  He  has  done  this  marvelous  thing: 
He  has  outlived  himself.  There  was  a  time  when 
thousands  of  men  would  have  died  for  the  love  of 
Julius  Caesar.  There  was  a  time  when  every  grena¬ 
dier  in  France  would  have  stood  between  a  cannon 
shot  and  Napoleon.  But  that  time  has  long  past  in 


53 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS . 


his  case.  Some  of  you  were  alive  when  he  died  ; 
and  who  now  cares  for  him  ?  Even  Frenchmen  go 
to  his  mansoleum  as  a  kind  of  holiday  pastime. 
Napoleon  is  no  more.  But  there  is  one  grave 
whose  ashes  never  grow  cold, — that  grave  where 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  expected  to  lie,  but  where  the 
body  of  Jesus  was  lain.  I  said  “  one  grave  whose 
ashes  never  grow  cold  ;  ”  I  now  say  one  rifled  grave 
whose  glory  beams  out  throughout  the  universe,  and 
the  love  of  which  men  can  never  lose  because  it 
once  was  occupied  and  now  is  empty.  There  are 
thousands  on  the  earth  to-day  who  would  die  for 
Jesus  Christ — yet  they  never  saw  Him.  Let  me 
.withdraw  that ;  they  have  seen  Him.  There  is  a 
sixth  sense  which  God  opens,  and  it  can  obey  the 
call,  “  Behold  the  Lamb.”  We  have  seen  Him  to¬ 
day.  Men  doubt  whether  Jesus  ever  lived.  He  is 
more  than  all  others  to  many  in  this  audience  to¬ 
day.  He  is  the  one  reality.  These  forms  will  soon 
fade,  but  we  behold  Him  by  faith,  Jesus  Christ  risen 
from  the  dead — risen  “  to  give  repentance  and  re¬ 
mission  of  sins,  and  we  are  His  witnesses  of  these 
things.” 

In  the  days  of  Julian  the  Apostate,  that  mighty 
monarch  jvho  set  himself  to  overturn  Christianity, 
there  was  a  humble  Christian  who  was  asked,  one 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 


59 


day  by  Julian’s  most  celebrated  orator,  with  that 
sneer  which  only  a  Roman  could  put  on  in  those 
days,  “  What  is  the  Galilean  carpenter  doing  now?” 
The  humble  Christian  raised  his  face  and  said,  “  The 
Galilean  carpenter  is  making  a  coffin.”  And  it  was 
only  a  few  months  before  the  coffin  was  done,  and 
in  it  the  prostrate  form  of  Julian  the  Apostate  lay, 
and  classic  polytheism  was  ended.  It  is  not  very 
long  ago  since  Voltaire  said,  “  In  twenty  years  the 
Almighty  will  see  fine  sport  in  France  ;  ”  but  be¬ 
fore  the  twenty  years  were  up  the  Galilean  carpenter 
had  another  coffin  ready  and  in  it  lay  the  prostrate 
form  of  the  French  monarchy.  And  it  is  within 
our  easy  recollection  that  the  modern  Nebuchadnez¬ 
zar  of  the  nations,  Napoleon  the  Little,  said  to 
himself,  “  See  this  great  nation  which  I  govern  and 
this  magnificent  capital  which  I  have  beautified ; 
I  will  water  my  soldiers’  horses  in  the  German 
Rhine,  and  my  cavalry  shall  ride  through  the  streets 
of  Berlin.”  And  behind  him  stood  the  Pope  and 
said,  “  Do  this,  my  best  servant,  and  my  temporal 
power  shall  be  established  again  among  the  na¬ 
tions.”  And  “  the  Galilean  carpenter”  was  building 
another  coffin,  and  in  less  than  two  months  there 
lay  in  it  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope ;  and,  a 
little  later,  the  prostrate  form  of  Napoleon  III. 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


6  o 

And  ever  since  “  the  Galilean  carpenter  ”  has  been 
building  coffins  for  His  enemies,  and  weaving  crowns 
of  immortal  amaranth  for  His  friends. 

I  have  been  greatly  interested  many  times,  to 
see  what  men  would  say  about  Him,  climbing  by 
the  stairway  of  lofty  conceptions  and  then  stopping 
short  of  the  truth.  The  knights  of  old  called  Him, 
the  mirror  of  all  chivalry the  monks  of  the  mid¬ 
dle  ages,  the  pattern  of  all  asceticism  ;  the  philoso¬ 
phers,  the  enlightener  in  all  truth  ;  Fenelon,  the 
most  rapt  of  mystics  ;  Vincent  de  Paul,  the  most 
practical  of  philanthropists.  An  English  poet 
writes : 

“The  best  of  men 

That  ere  wore  earth  about  Him  was  a  sufferer, 

A  soft,  meek,  patient,  humble,  tranquil  spirit, 

The  first  true  gentleman  that  ever  breathed.” 

A  skeptical  historian  calls  Him,  “  the  explanation 
of  all  history  ”  and  says,  “  In  all  my  study  of  the 
ancient  times,  I  have  always  felt  the  want  of  some¬ 
thing,  and  it  was  not  till  I  knew  our  Lord  that  all 
was  clear  to  me.  With  Him  there  is  nothing  that 
I  am  not  able  to  solve.”  Napoleon  declares  : 
“Between  Him  and  whomever  else  in  the  world  there 
is  no  possible  term  of  comparison.”  Such  are  a 
few  hints  at  the  testimonies  of  the  unbelievers* 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS . 


61 

and  half-believers,  extorted  from  them  by  their 
sense  of  the  super-human  character  of  Jesus. 

4.  Last  of  all,  and  best  of  all,  Jesus  is  a  real 
Saviour .  “  These  things  are  written  that  ye  might 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ; 
and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life  through  His 
nameJ  This  is  the  golden  clasp  of  the  girdle  ;  this 
is  the  centre  of  the  truth.  He  came  to  save  the 
lost.  0,  if  sin  and  trouble  were  imaginary,  then  a 
fancy  portrait,  or  a  myth  would  answer  for  a 
Saviour.  If  the  three  Hebrew  children  had  only 
been  cast  into  a  painted  furnace  of  painted  fire, 
then  a  painted  Saviour  would  have  answered.  But 
when  real  men  were  cast  into  a  real  furnace  of  fire, 
then  only  a  real  Deliverer  was  worth  anything  to 

them.  O  thou  afflicted  soul, 

“In  the  furnace  God  may  prove  thee, 

Thence  to  bring  thee  forth  more  bright 
But  can  never  cease  to  love  thee — 

Thou  art  precious  in  His  sight. 

God  is  with  thee, 

God  thine  everlasting  light/*' 

Sin  is  real.  St.  Paul  says,  “  When  I  would  do 
good,  evil  is  present  with  me.  What  I  would,  I 
do  not,  and  what  I  would  not,  that  I  do.  O, 
wretched  man  that  I  am  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death  !  ” 


6  2 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


What  would  a  fancy  sketch  or  a  myth  be  to  such 
a  man  as  that  ?  But  hear  this :  “  There  is  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after  the  spirit ;  for  the 
law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made 
me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.” 

My  dear  friends,  I  do  not  think  of  any  illustra¬ 
tion  of  this  simplest  and  most  fundamental  truth 
that  has  so  impressed  it  on  my  mind  as  an  incident 
I  heard  from  the  lips  of  Bishop  Janes.  He  told  of 
a  Jewish  lady  in  Baltimore  who  gave  herself  to 
Jesus.  There  was  a  protracted  meeting  in  progress, 
in  which  there  was  noticed  a  Jewess,  several  even¬ 
ings.  Afterwards  her  experience  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  church  in  this  way.  Her  hus¬ 
band,  a  gay  man  of  the  world,  was  in  the  habit  of 
passing  his  evenings  with  congenial  friends  at  the 
theatre  or  other  places  of  amusement,  leaving  her 
alone  at  home.  To  relieve  the  monotony  of  an 
evening,  (the  Methodist  church  in  which  a  protrac¬ 
ted  meeting  was  in  progess,  being  situated  in  the 
same  street),  she  slipped  out,  and,  impelled  by 
curiosity  attended  one  of  the  services.  The  first 
evening’s  service  left  no  particular  impression.  The 
question  simply  arose  in  her  mind,  just  as  a  cloud 
flits  over  the  sky,  “Suppose  that  Jesus  was  the 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS . 


63 


Messiah?”  The  next  night,  Jesus  was  again 
preached,  and  before  the  sermon  was  over  the 
question  became  more  than  a  question  ;  she  said  to 
herself,  “  Jesus  was,  perhaps,  the  Messiah,”  and  it 
greatly  distressed  her.  On  the  third  night  the 
thought  seized  her  soul  and  shook  it  through  and 
through;  “Jesus  was  the  Messiah.”  Of  course 
there  came  with  it — inevitably  to  a  Jewess — the 
conviction,  “  I  am  lost  forever  for  my  people  slew 
him.”  And  in  that  spirit  she  went  home  sobbing 
and  wailing.  Her  husband  returned  at  midnight, 
and  she  met  him  in  tears  and  said  at  once  “  Go  to 
some  Christian  neighbor’s  and  borrow  for  me  a  New 
Testament.”  He  tried  to  laugh  her  out  of  her  im¬ 
pressions,  or  argue  her  out  of  them  ;  but  it  was  of 
no  use,  and  so  for  the  love  he  bore  her,  he  went  out, 
at  half-past  twelve  in  the  morning,  and  rang  up  a 
Christian  neighbor.  When  he  came  to  the  door  the 
caller  said,  “  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  will  you  be  so 
kind  as  to  loan  me  a  New  Testament.”  You  may 
be  sure  the  request  was  most  cheerfully  granted. 
The  neighbor  thought  “  There  is  work  in  that  house 
to  be  done  for  Jesus  to-night  ;”  and  as  soon  as  he 
could  properly  dress  himself,  he  hurried  to  a  Chris¬ 
tian  brother’s,  and  with  him  repaired  to  the  Jewish 
mansion.  The  door  was  instantly  opened  and  the 


64 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


mistress  met  them  with  a  smile,  saying  “  I  have 
found  Jesus  !  ”  And  then  she  told  the  story  I  have 
told  you,  with  this  addition  ;  she  said  that,  when 
the  Testament  was  put  into  her  hands,  she  went 
into  her  own  room,  and  kneeling  she  lifted  up  her 
face  to  Heaven  and  cried,  “  O,  Lord  God  of  hiy 
fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  give  me  light, 
give  me  light!  ”  She  opened  the  Testament  with 
closed  eyes  and  chanced  to  open  it  where  this  Bible 
is  open  now,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  She  read  slowly  and  the  verses  went  tear¬ 
ing  through  her  soul  like  hot  thunderbolts,  until  she 
came  to  the  sixteenth  verse — “  For  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ;  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  unto  every  one  that 
believeth,  to  the  Jew  first — ”  Here  she  stopped, 
her  bursting  tears  blinded  her.  She  looked  again. 
It  is  “  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Greek.”  As 
she  read  these  words  she  believed  them  and  was 
saved,  and  knew  it.  When  the  Christian  brethren 
came,  she  was  a  Christian.  Do  men  tell  me  this  is 
a  fancy?  That  there  is  no  reality  represented  by 
such  an  experience  as  this!  When  a  lion  becomes 
a  lamb  !  When  a  drunkard  becomes  sober  !  When 
a  mean,  low,  driveling  youth  is  made  a  very  apos¬ 
tle  !  When  a  Jewess  becomes  a  Christian  !  When 


THE  FOUR  GOSPELS.  65 

Saul  passes  over  into  a  Paul  !  Only  God  works 
moral  miracles  like  these. 

So  in  every  temptation,  in  every  trial,  in  every 
emergency,  the  road  out  is  the  same.  This  Jesus, 
who  is  the  Christ,  and  the  Son  of  God,  gives  life 
when  the  soul  is  ready  to  perish,  through  faith  in 
His  own  blessed  name.  Look  into  the  dungeons  of 
the  Inquisition.  There  is  the  dreadful  oubliette, 
with  only  one  round  entrance  from  above  and  that 
covered  with  a  closely-fitting  marble  slab.  Egress, 
there  is  none.  Down  there  men  were  thrust  to  be 
starved  by  inches : — bread  enough  for  to-day,  one 
ounce  less  to-morrow,  one  ounce  less  the  next  day, 
and  so  on,  until  in  misery  and  wretchedness,  they 
died  of  starvation  amid  blackness  of  darkness.  Yet 
when  one  such  dungeon  was  opened,  there  was 
found  the  skeleton  of  a  man,  and  eighteen  inches 
above  it,  written  with  a  piece  of  coal,  with  the  bit 
of  coal  still  between  the  skeleton’s  fingers, — this 
inscription  : 

“  Oh  Christ,  they  may  separate  me  from  Thy 
church  but  they  cannot  separate  me  from  thee.” 

Oh  ye  sons  and  daughters  of  sorrow  and  of  sin, 
hear  ye  the  word  of  the  Lord  and  believe  it  for  the 
comfort  and  salvation  of  your  souls.  Jesus  is  the 
Christ.  He  is  the  Son  of  God.  Believing  on  Him 


66 


CYRUS  D.  FOSS. 


ye  may  now  have  life  through  His  name.  By  leav¬ 
ing  the  world  He  became  omnipresent  in  it  for  all 
time.  Just  before  He  disappeared  from  the  gaze  of 
his  triumphant  disciples  at  Bethany,  He  said  to 
them,  “  Lo  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world.”  And  then  “  He  lifted  up  his  hands 
and  blessed  them  ;  and  it  came  to  pass  while  He 
blessed  them,  He  was  parted  from  them,  and  car¬ 
ried  up  into  Heaven.”  Ever,  ever,  thou  once 
crucified  and  now  glorified  and  omnipresent  Re¬ 
deemer,  stand  thou  before  our  eyes,  as  thou  wast 
last  seen  by  thine  infant  church,  with  thy  hands 
extended  over  thy  people  to  bless  them  ! 

“  The  soul  that  on  Jesus  hath  leaned  for  repose 
He  will  not,  He  will  not  desert  to  its  foes  ; 

That  soul,  though  all  hell  should  endeavor  to  shake, 

He  will  never,  no  never,  no  never  forsake.” 

Amen,  and  Amen. 


CHRIST’S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST, 


MANIFESTED  IN  HIS  BIRTH,  ALLOTMENT,  AND  MINISTRY. 


By  WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN,  D.  D. 


Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  19th  Chap.,  10th  vs. — the  son 

OF  MAN  IS  COME  TO  SEEK  AND  TO  SAVE  THAT  WHICH 
WAS  LOST. 

The  Epiphany  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  so  immedi¬ 
ately  succeeds  His  birth  and  circumcision,  may, 
doubtlessly  suggest  many  enlivening  aspects  of  His 
divine  mission,  but  none  more  benignant  that  this, 
His  espousal  of  the  lost.  Let  this  manifestation 
be  the  subject  of  our  discourse  to-day,  and  may 
God  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  dark¬ 
ness,  shine  in  our  hearts  and  give  us  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  His  glory,  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  at  the  outset,  beloved, 
that  the  benevolence  of  the  Godhead  had  been  an 
eternal  manifestation.  The  leading  impulse  of 
Jesus  upon  earth  had  been  the  leading  attribute 
of  His  character  in  Heaven,  namely ;  Love,  diffu¬ 
sive  and  all  encircling,  or,  to  use  the  words  of 


68 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


Tertullian,  “  He  who  taught  a  divine  charity 
through  parables  and  in  familiar  speech  had  pre¬ 
viously  and  everlastingly  acted  upon  the  loftiest 
principles  and  motives  of  charity,”  and  if  He 
brought  it  down  to  human  language  and  compre¬ 
hension,  it  was  only  in  mercy  to  human  weakness. 


These  earthly  images  and  illustrations  are  ‘‘copies 

of  things  in  Heaven”  and  only  intimate  the  mind 
of  God.  This  is  strikingly  declared  in  the  Parables, 
every  one  of  which  is  a  sketch  of  celestial  activities 
forever  in  full  play.  Long  before  the  Hebrew  or 
Christian  scriptures  were  written,— before  Abraham 
was— before  the  world  was,  the  full  meaning  and 
moral  loveliness  of  the  Good  Samaritan  had  found 
expression  in  the  Godhead,  and  the  watchful  case 
of  the  Good  Shephard,  and  the  leniency  of  the 
Creditor,  who  forgave  ten  thousand  talents,— and 
the  tender  relenting  of  the  Parent,  gazing  afar  for 
the  return  of  the  Prodigal;  all  these,  and  unnum¬ 
bered  manifestations  beside  had  been  as  beams  of 
inextinguishable  light  in  the  Epiphany  of  Heaven. 
But  it  had  been  a  light  scattered  and  diffused— not 
brought  to  bear  with  focal  power  and  warmth  upon 
our  condition,— not  poured  with  special  force  upon 
humanity.  It  had  been  the  light  of  universal  love, 
and  providential  care.  But  look  at  this  group,  my 


CHRIST' S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


69 


brethren,  where  the  Virgin  Mother  holds  her  babe, 
and  the  Wise  Men,  kneel  in  pious  adoration,  offer¬ 
ing  their  gifts.  In  that  new-born  child, — in  that 
helpless  babe,  the  light  of  the  Godhead  descends 
upon  and  enwraps  us.  The  yearnings  and  longings 
of  our  race  are  met.  Had  He,  the  Triune  God,  re¬ 
mained  upon  His  throne, — far  above  us,  out  of  our 
sight ;  invisible  and  abstract — without  embodiment 
and  without  expression,  we  might  have  felt  after 
Him  forever,  without  finding  Him.  He  might  have 
been  all  that  we  now  believe  Him  to  be,  a  God, 
holy — wise — beneficent ;  a  God  of  creative  power 
and  watchful  providence,  a  God  never  unmindful 
of  our  wants — never  inattentive  to  our  cries — a  God 
who  with  the  outgoings  of  the  morning  and  the 
evening  was  ever  ready  to  help  us ;  but,  as  a  God 
undisclosed,  hidden  in  his  own  perfections,  concealed 
within  the  pavilion  of  His  eternal  majesty,  He  could 
not  have  been  our  God  for  whom  we  had  waited,  a 
really  living  and  loving  God  ;  whose  beaming  face  we 
could  look  into,  and  the  hem  of  whose  earth  woven 
garments  we  could  touch.  This  is  what  the  heart  of 
man  had  craved  from  the  beginning,  in  every  vi¬ 
cissitude  of  life,  and  under  every  form  of  religion, — 
not  merely  a  God,  but  a  disclosure  of  the  true  God 
and  contact  with  Him.  Here  is  the  yearning  real- 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


7  o 

ized, — after  periods,  dispensations,  prophecies, — the 
fulness  of  time  has  come.  God  no  longer  disap¬ 
points  us.  He  has  placed  Himself  within  our 
reach.  There,  where  those  eastern  chiefs  are  kneel¬ 
ing  the  cravings  of  the  universal  heart  has  found 
both  its  solution  and  its  satisfaction.  God  is  with 
us;  within  the  circle  of  our  mortal  necessities,  sor¬ 
rows,  aspirations,  and  the  first  clear  view  of  Him 
that  we  have,  reveals  Him  under  a  form  most  love¬ 
ly,  the  most  winning,  guileless,  approachable, 
known  within  the  limits  of  our  common  humanity. 
The  forsaken  and  the  lost  of  this  world  have  a 
Babe  brought  within  the  range  of  their  experiences 
and  special  tribulations.  A  Babe  to  comfort  and 
reassured  them  !  And  if  you  can  mention  any  other 
form  of  human  or  intellectual  life,  more  likely  to 
unite  the  most  forlorn  of  this  class,  in  an  intelligent 
recognition  of  condescending  love,  it  does  not  occur 
to  the  mind  of  the  preacher.  A  Babe  is  aloof  from 
all  the  prevailing  currents  of  prejudice  or  opinion. 
A  Babe  is  unconscious  of  all  that  divides  men  into 
tribes,  or  casts,  or  conditions, — or  the  world  into 
hemispheres,  or  continents,  or  States.  To  a  Babe, 
wherever  born,  the  whole  world  is  akin,  becase  its 
purity,  and  innocency,  and  humanity  and  trust,  se¬ 
cure  every  heart.  But  here  is  a  Babe,  whose  earliest 


CHRIST'S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


7 1 


life,  is  lower  than  the  ordinary  conditions  of  in¬ 
fancy.  This  Babe  is  an  outcast,  at  least  in  the 
literal  meaning  of  that  word.  He  is  carried  to  a 
stable  for  shelter.  There  is  no  room  for  Him  in  the 
Inn.  It  is  to  an  outhouse  that  we  must  resort,  if 
we  would  find  our  Immanuel,  and  thus  is  He  mani¬ 
fested  to  us  this  day,  not  only  as  helpless,  but 
homeless,  as  at  a  level  with  those  that  wander  and 
have  no  certain  dwelling  place.  A  Babe  sharing 
the  poor  comforts  of  a  cattle  stall  !  And  this  living 
fact — this  image  of  a  detached,  precarious,  humble 
life,  has  been  seized  by  the  world  as  if  the  very 
thing  it  had  coveted,  and  would  forever  gaze  at, 
and  has  been  carried  through  the  ages  and  genera¬ 
tions  of  Christendom,  not  only  in  the  thankful 
heart,  but  in  every  form  of  sculpture  and  of  paint¬ 
ing.  It  hangs  in  matchless  treatment  and  coloring 
in  old  cathedrals,  and  upon  grand  historic  walls  of 
palaces,  and  galleries,  and  courts.  It  adorns  the 
homes  of  millions  upon  millions  who  are  content 
with  copies  and  coarser  tints.  It  is  the  rude  orna¬ 
ment  of  cottages  and  cabins,  almost  as  naked  and 
bare  as  the  cattle  stall  of  Jesus.  Wherever  it  hangs 
— wherever  it  meets  the  eye,  it  carries  captive  the 
heart.  It  is  a  picture  of  incarnate  Love.  It  tells 
the  story  of  Him,  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save. 


72 


WILLIAM  F.  M  OR  GAN. 


that  which  was  lost,  and  it  is  a  pleasing  circum¬ 
stance,  that  the  light  of  outer  day,  which  best 
assists  us  in  the  rendering  of  our  accustomed  ser¬ 
vice,  and  in  the  reading  of  Gods  Holy  Word,  comes 
streaming  through  that  picture  in  yonder  transept, 
which  orphan  children  have  placed  there  as  the 
memorial  of  a  gentle  mother.*  It  is  moreover 
from  this  humble  and  pinched  condition  to  which 
the  Holy  Child  is  born  that  our  festive  season 
derives  its  special  significance  and  gladness.  These 
lowly  circumstances  of  the  Nativity  appeal  to  all, 
even  to  kings  and  nobles  of  the  earth,  and  always  to 
the  lost  and  broken  hearted.  Every  soul  responds 
to  the  visible  and  earthly  side  of  the  Incarnation — 
Childhood  is  aglow, — all  homes  and  circles  catch 
the  inspiration, — Charity  comes  forth  with  a  smile 
and  a  gift,  hospitality  spreads  a  generous  board,  and 
the  Holy  Church  of  God  throughout  the  world 
rings  her  chimes,  and  decks  her  altars,  and  prepares 
her  song. 

Such  to  our  eyes  is  Christ’s  appearing, — manifest 
in  the  Flesh.  Turn  for  a  moment  from  this  human 
side  to  that  which  is  Divine  and  Spiritual.  These 
scanty  and  coarse  preparations  to  save  the  Babe  of 

*  A  painted  window  of  much  excellence,  in  the  South  minor  Tran¬ 
sept  of  St.  Thomas’  Church. 


CHRIST'S  £  SPOUSAL  OP  THE  LOST. 


73 


Bethlehem  from  exposure  are  instantly  transformed 
into  points  of  light,  which  help  to  illumine  the 
world,  and  these  adoring  Sages  accept  the  Manger 
Cradle,  as  the  Throne  of  their  King.  In  Jesus  thus 
born  and  thus  accepted,  the  Chasm  between  Earth 
and  Heaven  is  bridged  over,  and  a  real  communica¬ 
tion  with  God  is  open  to  man.  The  two  natures 
which  in  the  person  of  Jesus  are  inseparably  joined 
touch  two  spheres  of  being, — here,  the  created,  the 
dependent,  the  human, — there,  the  uncreated  and 
Divine.  The  Mediator.  The  man  Christ  Jesus! 
We  cannot  over  state  the  absoluteness  of  His 
humanity;  we  cannot  exaggerate  the  absoluteness 
of  H  is  Divinity.  God  man  !  We  crowd  by  faith 
around  His  cradle,  and  we  bring  with  us  the  for¬ 
saken  and  the  lost,  that  we  together  with  them  may 
look  upon  our  God ,  and  claim  lineage  with  our 
Brother.  Again,  this  manifestation  of  our  Lord  as 
a  Divine  Being  touching  the  depths, — ministering 
to  men  in  their  debasement  and  wretchedness,  was 
not  an  accident  or  a  sentiment.  It  was  a  predeter¬ 
mined  and  solemn  purpose  He  submitted  to  an 
individual  discipline  and  experience.  Before  He 
had  uttered  a  reviving  word,  or  stretched  forth  a 
supporting  hand  He  sought  a  natural  and  practical 
acquaintance  with  all  the  varieties  of  our  condition, 


74 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


and  went  through  a  gradual  identification  with 
humanity  in  its  most  troubled  estate.  Sheltered  by 
indigence  and  unknown  Himself,  He  was  a  learner, 
gathering  knowledge  of  our  allotment.  He  knew 
obscurity  in  His  early  surroundings  and  associations. 
He  knew  want.  He  knew  obedience  and  submis¬ 
sion,  beneath  His  mother’s  eye,  and  in  His  Father’s 
trade.  He  knew  the  envy  and  undervaluing  con¬ 
tempt  of  kindred  and  relations.  As  a  child,  as  a 
youth,  as  a  man,  He  had  learned  the  mysteries  of 
life.  He  had  encountered  its  strongest  vicissitudes. 
For  thirty  years  this  anointed  Son  of  God  had  been 
taking  the  guage  and  measure  of  what  we  under¬ 
stand  as  life.  Life  on  its  shady  side, — in  its  bleak¬ 
est  and  most  disheartening  exposures.  His  de¬ 
struction  had  been  plotted.  He  had  been  lost  and 
found.  He  had  been  subject  to  every  trial  which 
could  wound  a  sensitive  nature,  or  straiten  and 
over-shadow  a  lofty  spirit,  and  the  very  fact  that 
He  grew  in  wisdom  as  He  grew  in  stature,  only  ad¬ 
ded  to  His  equipment  of  experiences, — for  His  very 
goodness  made  Him  the  mock  of  scorn  and  miscon¬ 
ception  among  His  brethren.  Such,  at  a  glance, 
was  His  acquaintance  with  life,  even  while  His 
Divinity  was  entirely  repressed,  and  before  He  had 
entered  openly  upon  His  redeeming  work.  Scarcely 


CHRIST'S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


75 


had  He  entered  upon  that,  when  the  Devil  con¬ 
fronted  Him,  and  led  Him  into  the  wilderness  to 
tempt  Him.  He  submitted,  and  surrendered  Him¬ 
self  to  the  guidance  of  the  Devil,  whose  kingdom 
He  had  come  to  destroy.  Mystery  of  mysteries! 
That  infernal  Spirit  had  blasted  paradise,  and  ruined 
the  world.  The  offence  which  He  wrought  had 
enlisted  heaven,  and  brought  Christ  down.  The 
enemy  of  God  and  man ;  the  old  Serpent  who 
tempted  our  first  mother  Eve, — the  shadow  and  the 
curse  which  had  followed  all  the  generations  of  her 
childhood, — the  demon  in  whose  presence  the 
whole  Creation  had  groaned  and  travailed  together, 
Christ  follows  him ,  alone,  into  the  wilderness. 
My  brethren  it  was  an  essential  part  of  our  Savior’s 
training.  He  had  come  to  seek  the  lost,  and  to 
bind  up  the  broken  hearted,  and  before  He  could 
do  this  as  He  proposed  to  do  it,  it  was  needful  for 
Him  to  taste  something  more  than  the  ordinary 
outward  hardships  of  life.  There  were  thorns, 
sharper  than  poverty,  and  humble  condition,  more 
piercing  and  agonizing  than  the  scorn  of  men. 
There  were  moral  horrors,  inward  griefs,  seducings 
of  evil  spirits,  conflicts,  perplexities.  These  were- 
to  be  dealt  with  and  assuaged,  the  throes  of  spirit¬ 
ual  anguish,  the  torments  of  men  beset  by  inordinate- 


76 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


passions  and  appetites, — the  scourge  and  the  fear  of 
conscious  guilt,  the  recoil  and  shuddering  cry  of 
remorse.  These  entered  largely  into  the  inner  life 
of  man,  and  in  order  to  deal  with  them  the  Son  of 
Man  consented  to  those  very  assaults  from  which 
they  sprang.  He  was  tempted  in  all  points,  like  as 
we  are.  He,  the  incarnation  of  purity.  The  Im¬ 
maculate,  was  led  into  the  deserts,  and  during  a 
period  of  forty  days  and  nights,  endured  an  over¬ 
whelming  force  of  temptation  of  which  we  cannot 
conceive.  He  was  attacked  through  every  sense 
and  intellectual  attribute, — allured,  flattered,  im¬ 
portuned,  menaced,  parleyed  with.  Every  tempta¬ 
tion  common  to  man  in  his  strength  or  his  weak¬ 
ness,  in  his  higher  or  in  his  lower  life,  was  launched 
against  the  Lord.  We  are  told  that  He  suffered, 
being  tempted,  that  is  the  temptation  wrought  upon 
Him,*  and  in  resisting  it,  there  was  a  struggle  and 
painfulness.  He  resisted,  but  at  the  expense  of 
tortured  human  feeling.  There  was  no  reluctance 
of  the  will,  but  there  zvas  force  of  desire  ;  for  I 
repeat  again  the  declaration  of  Holy  Scripture,  that 
He  was  tempted  like  as  we  are,  just  as  any  frail  son 
or  daughter  of  the  human  family  may  be ;  through 
natural  affection,  through  implanted  desire,  through 


*  Robertson’s  Sermons. 


CHRIST'S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


77 


the  sight  of  the  eye,  and  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  and 
through  every  avenue  and  inlet  of  our  mortal  na¬ 
ture.  In  these  few  particulars,  beloved,  you  may 
perceive  how  absolutely,  and  aside  from  His  great 
final  Expiation,  Christ  allied  Himself  to  our  condi¬ 
tion,  and  prepared  Himself  especially  for  a  ministry 
to  the  lost  and  forsaken. 

I  remark  again,  that  having  thus  prepared  Him¬ 
self  in  this  preliminary  and  personal  fellowship  with 
exposure  and  trial,  He  went  forth  straightway  upon 
those  very  paths,  and  into  the  midst  of  those  very 
associations  where  He  would  be  most  likely  to  find 
the  objects  of  His  deepest  sympathy.  And,  as  if  to 
strike  the  key-note  of  His  mission  just  where  he 
had  been  trained  and  disciplined  for  it,  He  came  to 
Nazareth  when  He  had  been  brought  up,  and  enter¬ 
ing  the  Synagogue  He  opened  the  Scriptures  and 
turned  to  the  very  passage  in  the  Book  of  the 
Prophet  Isaiah  which  refers  to  that  class  of  which  I 
am  speaking,  and  looking  around  upon  His  aston¬ 
ished  auditors,  said  to  them :  “  This  day  is  this 
Scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears.  I  am  He.  This  is 
my  work.  Me  hath  my  Father  anointed  to 
preach  glad  tidings  to  the  poor.  Me  hath  He  sent 
to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to 
the  captives  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to 


78 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bound,  to  preach  the 
acceptable  Year  of  the  Lord.  From  that  hour  He 
stood  among  men- 1  might  almost  say,  at  the 
corners  of  the  streets.  He  was  not  in  palaces  or 
king's  courts,  but  among  men  on  their  common 
walks.  Were  you  to  erase  from  the  ministry  of 
Jesus,  or  withdraw  from  the  glory  of  this  Epiphany 
His  outdoor  work,  you  would  erase  nearly  all  that 
quickens  the  pulse  of  humanity— you  would  with¬ 
draw  beams  of  golden  light  which  now  warm  the 
heart  of  a  fallen  world.  The  dialogue  with  the 
woman  of  Canaan— the  Syrophenician  in  the  street 
imploring  help-affords  a  lesson  to  the  world  which 
nothing  else  could  supply,  and  reveals  the  most 
touching  picture  ever  realized  of  Divinity  overcome 
by  the  omnipotence  of  faith.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  such  incidents  as  the  persistent  cry  of 
old  Bartimeus,  the  blind  man,  sitting  by  the  way- 
side,  or  the  entreaty  of  the  nobleman  whose  son 
was  sick,  or  that  of  the  centurion  whose  daughter 
lay  dying,  or  that  of  the  poor  woman  in  the  crowd 
who  begged  only  to  touch  the  hem  of  His  garment, 
or  of  the  Magdalen  bathing  His  feet  with  repentant 
tears,  or  of  the  frail  woman  at  the  well  of  Sychar. 

I  say,  the  withdrawal  of  such  daily  and  familiar  in¬ 
cidents  from  the  Gospel  might  leave  its  theology 


CHRIST'S  £  SPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


79 


untouched,  and  the  plan  of  salvation  in  full  play ; 
but  it  would  defraud  the  universal  human  heart  of 
that  strength  and  encouragement  which  are  essential 
to  its  support  under  sorrow,  and  to  its  victory  over 
sin.  And  this,  my  brethren,  was  the  complexion  of 
our  Lord’s  ministry  upon  earth  from  first  to  last. 
His  great  Heart  was  throbbing  in  sympathy  with 
every  form  of  mortal  tribulation,  physical,  mental, 
moral,  spiritual.  His  Sermons  were  short.  His 
statement  of  doctrinal  questions  was  rapid  and  de¬ 
cisive.  He  spake  in  parables,  in  precepts,  in  de¬ 
tached  and  burning  sentences,  because  His  life 
consisted  of  works  rather  than  of  words.  He  had 
come  to  seek  the  lost  and  the  lost  gathered  around 
Him.  The  sick  and  the  poor,  the  widowed  and  the 
desolate,  mourners  and  penitents,  were  continually 
pressing  toward  Him  whithersoever  He  went:  from 
all  cities  and  villages,  Jews,  Samaritans,  Greeks, 
thronged  around  Him,  to  be  healed  of  diseases,  to 
be  dispossessed  of  unclean  spirits — to  touch  Him, 
to  bathe  His  feet,  to  beg  solace  beneath  the  burden 
of  deadly  sin — and  “  He  was  their  Saviour;  in  all 
their  afflictions  He  was  afflicted  ;  He  received  them 
all ;  He  permitted  all  to  come  so  near  that  it  was 
turned  to  His  reproach,  as  in  the  case  of  Simon  the 
Pharasee,  who  was  scandalized  because  Jesus  per- 


8o 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


mitted  a  sinful  woman  to  wash  His  feet  with  tears, 
and  to  wipe  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head — as  in 
the  case  of  the  Scribes,  when  they  brought  to  Him 
the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  for,  instead  of  con¬ 
demning  her  He  convicted  them  and  sent  away  the 
erring  one  with  a  solemn  admonition.  And  so  al¬ 
ways.  He  went  home  with  Zaccheus  the  publican. 
He  sat  and  ate  with  sinners  ;  His  word  lay  among 
them  ;  He  was  their  friend,  and  they  recognized 
Him  as  such.  For,  as  was  once  said  by  an  eminent 
foreign  Divine — while  His  purity  was  as  the  light — 
while  His  carriage  and  conversation  was  that  of  a 
God — while  He  was  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and 
separate  from  sinners  by  an  infinite  spotlessness, 
they  still  saw  in  Him  love,  pity,  tenderness,  and 
were  not  afraid,  but  came  around  Him,  assured  that 
He  would  stoop  in  compassion  to  the  evil  ;  that 
He  would  show  compassion  for  what  was  not  pure  ; 
that  He  would  feel  for  the  ruined  and  touch  the 
fallen  with  a  hand  of  gentleness.  And  so  it  was 
harlots  and  the  wretched  gathered  around  Him. 
The  outcasts  of  society  followed  Him  and  knew 
Him  to  be  their  friend — because  in  Him  they  saw 
something  more  than  man — something  higher  and 
purer — something  which  won  them  as  nothing  else 
could.  In  Him  they  saw  a  hope  opened  into  a 


CHRIST'S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


8l 


hopeless  world,  for  fallen  spirits  and  broken  hearts. 
He  was  the  Son  of  Man  and  yet  the  Son  of  God, 
standing  among  the  lost,  with  a  feeling  of  sadness — 
seeing  the  evil  in  human  nature,  seeing  the  good — 
knowing  the  temptation,  mourning  over  its  power 
and  its  result,  and  bending  over  a  misled,  mutilated 
nature,  as  a  Good  Shepherd  would  bend  over  a 
lamb  entangled  in  a  thorn  bush. 

Now,  beloved,  what  are  we  to  gather  from  this 
rapid  resume  of  Christ’s  mission  and  ministry  ?  I 
answer,  the  lesson  of  our  duty  to  the  lost.  If  such 
was  His  mission, — such  is  the  mission  of  His  church 
forever.  The  anointing  which  was  upon  the  Head, 
must  flow  down  upon  the  members.  A  hand  out¬ 
stretched  toward  the  lost  must  be  the  in  hoc  vinco  of 
all  Christian  effort  and  success,  and  accordingly  in 
the  midst  of  sects  and  theologies  and  of  that  auda¬ 
cious,  self  asserting  spirit  which  especially  marks 
our  day,  I  entreat  you  to  sit  meekly  at  the  feet  of 
this  Jesus,  and  learn  of  Him.  Under  His  touching 
manifestations  as  Saviour  of  the  lost, — the  lost  of 
every  name,  and  class,  and  degree, — the  Church 
should  find  her  warrant  and  her  work.  It  is  a  war¬ 
rant  which  cannot  be  invalidated ;  it  is  a  work 
which  must  proceed,  and  find  its  spur  and  multiform 
material  so  long  as  the  world  stands.  And  it  is  a 


82 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


fact  which  we  may  deprecate,  but  which  may  not 
for  one  moment  be  concealed,  that  just  so  far  as 
any  religious  system  is  an  exponent  of  Christ’s 
sympathy  with  the  ruined,  and  lays  hold  upon  the 
lost  in  His  spirit  and  for  His  sake,  so  far  is  that 
system  recognized  as  a  living  thing, — having  in  it 
salt  and  leaven  and  light.  It  may  lack  the  accredi¬ 
ted  essentials  of  a  church.  It  may  vary  altogether 
from  Christ’s  own  Institution.  It  may  do  despite 
in  many  practical  ways  to  His  commands  and  ob¬ 
vious  intentions.  It  may  discard  a  three-fold 
ministry,  and  hold  ritual  and  creeds  and  sacraments 
and  discipline  in  dis-esteem.  It  may  retain  only  a 
scintilla  of  what  is  apostolic  and  primitive  in  its 
worship,  or  in  its  order,  or  its  authority, — and  yet 
addressing  itself  to  the  lost  it  instantly  establishes 
a  claim,  and  secures  a  hearing,  and  exerts  an  influ¬ 
ence,  and  accomplishes  a  result  which  seem  to  bear 
the  endorsement  and  unite  the  suffrages  of  God  and 
angels  and  good  men.  The  wretchedness  of  this 
world  is  so  abounding;  its  cries  of  remorse  are  so 
sharp  and  piercing,  that  even  the  claims  of  a  Divine 
Church  and  a  Royal  Priesthood  appear  to  be  im¬ 
pertinent,  if  they  do  not  interpose  almost  with 
vehemence  and  violence,  to  seize  the  sinking,  and 
reclaim  the  erring,  and  overtake  the  lost.  It  must 


CHRIST'S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


83 


not  be  in  pretensions  or  in  fundamental  questions 
that  we  rest.  It  must  not  be  in  offices  or  preroga¬ 
tives  that  we  are  content  to  find  repose  and  respec¬ 
tability.  It  must  not  be  in  channels  of  grace,  or  in 
what  is  visible,  perpetual,  historic,  and  catholic, 
that  we  alone,  or  largely,  make  our  boasts.  Such 
terms  carry  with  them,  I  allow,  a  great  significance, 
and  are  held  in  great  honor  and  reverence  by  your 
preacher.  But  I  declare  unto  you  again,  beloved,  it 
is  not  in  her  equipment  that  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  to  glory,  but  in  her  mission  as  she  finds  it 
set  forth  in  the  Birth  and  allotment  and  ministry  of 
her  Founder  and  Head.  The  Son  of  Man  is  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  As  my 
Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  Here  is 
our  example  and  here  our  commission.  We  are  to 
keep  both  before  us,  and  with  all  the  helps  and 
means  provided  by  the  church;  with  all  her  priestly 
powers,  and  properly  adjusted  instruments;  with 
her  authority  to  teach  the  ignorant,  and  absolve  the 
penitent  and  rebuke  the  wilful  and  guide  the  blind 
and  lift  up  the  fallen  and  bruise  Satan  beneath 
every  foot ;  we  are  to  go  forth,  Ministers  and  Lay¬ 
men,  Priests  and  people  to  our  appointed  office  in 
the  midst  of  this  fallen  world.  Every  Christian  by 
virtue  of  his  baptismal  seal  is  an  incumbent  of  this 


84 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


office,  and  while  there  may  be  and  will  be,  an  in¬ 
equality  of  functions,  there  is  not  a  member  of  the 
church  who  has  not  one  “  fairer  than  the  Sons  of 
Men  ”  to  follow,  and  a  heavenly  work  of  moral 
healing  to  discharge  for  ourselves.  Moreover,  I 
may  say,  dear  brethren,  that  we  have  not  only  the 
life  of  our  adorable  Lord  to  impel  us,  but  we  have 
a  field  to  occupy  and  to  answer  for,  which  should 
enkindle  zeal  and  effort  and  Christian  liberality  to 
the  uttermost. 

The  metropolis  in  which  we  dwell  swarms  with 
the  lost  and  the  forsaken.  The  sun  does  not  shine 
upon  a  portion  of  this  globe  where  the  special  work 
of  Christ  is  more  needed  than  in  our  midst.  I 
would  not  exaggerate  the  evils  which  infest  this 
city.  I  love  it,  and  know  what  a  vast  reserve  of  ex¬ 
cellence  and  uprightness  and  purity  is  lodged  in  it, 
and  yet  it  is  a  guilty  city.  Oh,  most  guilty!  You 
may  describe  to  me  the  exposures  and  immoralities 
of  foreign  cities,  but  recent  statistics  will  confirm 
me  in  the  declaration  that  for  gross  sensuality ;  for 
bold  shameless  vice  ;  for  ignorance  ;  for  debasement ; 
for  downright  heathenism,  the  whole  world  cannot 
furnish  more  appalling  exhibitions  than  are  to  be 
found  here,  in  the  very  bosom  of  Gospel  day.  Our 
churches  cast  their  shadows  upon  the  chambers  of 


CHRIST'S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


35 


despair.  Parents  and  children  involved  in  a  com¬ 
mon  misery;  the  old  and  the  young  of  either  sex; 
those  who  have  sunk  away  from  early  care  and 
privilege,  through  misfortune,  and  those  who  have 
been  separated  from  earlier  associations  by  the 
leprosy  of  sin  in  their  multitudes,  cower  and  hide 
among  us.  The  tempted  ;  the  fallen  ;  those  who 
know  the  misery  of  having  quenched  a  light 
brighter  than  the  Sun ;  the  intolerable  sense  of 
being  sunk;  the  remorse  of  feeling  that  they  are 
not  what  they  might  have  been.  Do  you  not  hear 
their  cry  ?  It  is  not  the  cry  of  those  who  seek  for 
bread,  or  for  shelter,  or  for  raiment.  It  is  not  the 
cry  of  those  who  languish  in  desolate  places,  but  the 
cry  of  souls  burdened  with  transgression  and  shame. 
Souls  which  feel  the  loneliness  of  sin.  Souls  which 
have  departed  from  God  and  are  forsaken  by  Him. 
Souls  bitterly  repentant,  agonized,  utterly  crippled, 
and  yet  longing  to  be  good  ;  yearning  to  return  ; 
the  lost  !  the  lost !  Did  Christ  come  to  seek  these  ? 
Did  He  come  to  save  them?  Did  He  stand  in  their 
midst  as  a  Healer  and  Absolver  ?  He  did,  and  shall  we 
neglect  them  ?  My  brethren  we  neglect  them  at  our 
peril.  Dare  we  slight  those  whose  welfare  the  Lord 
espoused  ;  those  for  whose  recovery  He  so  patiently 
and  tenderly  ministered?  Then  both  as  Christians 


86 


WILLIAM  F.  MORGAN. 


and  as  citizens  we  may  expect  the  recoil  of  a  terrible 
retribution.  The  example  which  we  despise  will  be 
our  challenge  on  the  Day  of  Judgment.  Ye  did  it 
not  to  these.  Ye  did  it  not  to  Me  ;  while,  mean¬ 
time,  the  sinful  class  which  we  abandon,  will  spread 
a  contagion  which  will  taint  and  poison  the  air  and 
penetrate  our  habitations,  and  by  a  moral  epidemic 
number  our  own  offspring  among  the  lost.  Blessed 
Master  we  will  not  do  despite  to  thy  example.  We 
will  not  disregard  Thy  fellowship  with  the  lost. 
We  will  recognize  our  relationship  with  them  ;  our 
common  origin,  our  common  redemption,  our  com¬ 
mon  destiny.  We  will  strive  to  uplift  and  restore 
them !  For  one,  brethren,  I  have  an  illimitable 
faith  in  the  recovery  of  the  lost.  I  care  not  into 
what  slough  they  may  have  sunk,  or  into  what  toils 
of  the  devil  they  may  have  been  betrayed.  The 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  The 
love  of  Jesus  Christ  reaches  to  the  depths  of  all 
debasement,  and  this  aspect  of  our  Epiphany ;  this 
special  manifestation,  is  the  Gospel  in  its  full, 
literal,  complete  adaptation  and  use.  The  Gospel 
in  contact  with  its  most  legitimate  objects, — work¬ 
ing  in  its  own  most  appropriate  sphere. 

Beloved  brethren,  let  us  be  a  living  Church,  not 
merely  apostolic  in  origin  or  primitive  in  pattern. 


CHRIST’S  ESPOUSAL  OF  THE  LOST. 


87 


but  living,  actuating,  energizing.  Let  this  Gospel 
in  our  hands  be  something  more  than  a  system  or  a 
dogma, — something  more  than  a  dry,  unprolific 
thing.  Let  it  be  a  power;  a  fountain  of  sweet 
waters,  swelling  up  from  the  depths  of  Christian 
love,  refreshing  to  ourselves  and  pouring  over  the 
deserts  of  this  world,  the  currents  of  regenerating, 
renovating  life,  and  hastening  on  the  day,  when  a 
festival  like  this,  shall  be  not  only  an  attestation, 
but  a  living  and  an  unquestioned  witness,  in  every 
latitude  and  land,  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  come  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost. 


CHRIST’S  SANCTION  TO  THE  AUTHORITY 

OF  REVELATION. 


By  Rev.  THOS.  D.  ANDERSON,  D.D. 


Text  : — “  And  He  said  unto  them,  ‘these  are  the 

WORDS  WHICH  I  SPAKE  UNTO  YOU  WHILE  I  WAS  YET  WITH 
YOU,  THAT  ALL  THINGS  MUST  BE  FULFILLED  WHICH 
WERE  WRITTEN  IN  THE  LAW  OF  MOSES,  AND  IN  THE 

Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning  Me.’ 
Then  opened  He  their  understanding,  that  they 

MIGHT  UNDERSTAND  THE  SCRIPTURES,  AND  SAID  UNTO 

them,  ‘  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved 
Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the 

THIRD  DAY.’  ” - LUKE,  XXIV.  CHAP.,  44,  45,  46  V. 

Some  years  ago  there  appeared  from  the  pen  of 
perhaps  the  shrewdest  of  our  sceptical  thinkers  a 
volume  entitled,  “  The  Conduct  of  Life.”  It  con¬ 
sists  of  a  collection  of  essays,  the  arrangement  of 
which  is  suggestive.  The  first  is  on  Fate,  the  last 
is  on  Illusions.  Near  the  close  of  the  book,  after 


9o 


TIIOS.  D.  ANDERSON. 


a  question  implying  the  most  absolute  negation  of 
all  knowledge,  the  author  lets  us  into  the  secret  re¬ 
cesses  of  the  breast  of  Scepticism  by  an  apparently 
involuntary  exclamation.  In  this  shudder  his  whole 
being  seems  to  express  itself.  Can  we  covet  such  a 
result  ?  Is  this  all  that  this  finely  stored,  ingenious, 
elegant  mind  can  offer  us,  when  rejecting  Revelation 
he  returns  from  his  lonely  search  into  the  conduct 
of  life  ? 

Refusing  the  truth  of  God’s  personal  sovereignty, 
yet  finding  that  man’s  finite  volition  is  circum¬ 
scribed,  Mr.  Emerson  begins  his  essays  with  “  Fate.” 
Casting  aside  the  certain  announcements  of  Inspira¬ 
tion,  he  closes  the  series  with  “  Illusions,”  exclaim¬ 
ing  on  the  very  brink  of  utter  unbelief,  “  What  ter¬ 
rible  questions  we  are  learning  to  ask  !  ”  Surely 
the  soul  of  this  gifted  writer  has  in  its  wrestlings 
grasped  something  like  prophetic  power  and  voiced 
its  experience  to  a  foreboding  that  confirms  the 
words  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  “  Ever  learning  and  never 
able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.”  * 
Before  then  we  consent  to  throw  away  the  Bible, 
from  which  Christianity  draws  her  divine  lessons 
for  the  conduct  of  life,  and  realizing  the  immense 
importance  of  the  questions  at  issue  we  are  justified 


* 2  Tim.,  3,  7. 


A  U  THORI T  Y  OF  RE  VELA  TION.  g  i 

in  demanding  something  more  certain  than  the 
mere  negation  of  knowledge,  and  more  comforting 
than  the  dismal  foreboding  of  our  own  ignorance. 

The  authority  of  Revelation  must  be  admitted  or 
Christianity  is  not  possible.  The  interests,  vast  as 
they  are,  which  gather  around  the  one  invest  the 
other.  Does  Christianity  assert  that  “  he  that  be- 
lieveth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life?”*  Bear¬ 
ing  to  every  heavy  laden  soul  the  Saviour’s  gracious 
invitation,  “Come  unto  Me,”  does  she  promise 
“  rest  ?  ”  f  Beneath  her  ministry  do  “  we  know 
that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God  ?  ”  J  Does  she  so  impart  courage  to  the 
weak  who  sees  the  mighty  work  to  which  he  is 
called  as  to  enable  him  to  exult  in  the  assurance, 
“  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strength¬ 
ened  me?”  §  Are  her  followers  taught  to  believe 
that  in  all  tribulation,  distress,  and  peril  they  will 
be  “  more  than  conquerors  ?  ”||  Is  it  the  expectation 
of  Christianity  that  God  will  “  gather  together  in 
one  all  things  in  Christ,  both  which  are  in  heaven 
and  which  are  on  earth,”  “  that  we  should  be  to  the 
praise  of  His  Glory?”**  So  we  hold.  But  we 
ground  our  faith  alone  in  the  Word  of  God  ;  the 

*John,  3,  36.  |  Matt.  11,  28.  \  Rom.  8,  28.  §  Phil.  4,  13. 

||  Rom.  8,  37.  **Eph.  1,  10,  12. 


THOS.  IV.  ANDERSON. 


92 

revelations  of  whose  Old  Testament  are  declared  in¬ 
fallible  by  the  teaching,  the  example,  and  the  suffer¬ 
ing  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  in  whose  New  Testament 
He  laid  the  foundation  of  our  confidence  in  His 
promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  He  declared,  “  He 
shall  teach  you  all  things  and  bring  all  things  to  your 
remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you.”  * 

“  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God.”  f 
Without  this  inspiration  we  neither  have  nor  can 
have  the  life  of  Christianity.  For  Christianity 
embodies  herself  in  the  fulfilment  of  prediction 
uttered  only  by  the  Spirit ;  exists  in  facts,  the 
credibility  of  which  stands  or  falls  with  the  truth¬ 
fulness  of  the  Sacred  Record  ;  makes  known  condi¬ 
tions  whose  validity  must  depend  on  an  authentic 
announcement  of  Jehovah’s  will;  and  dispenses 
promise  and  threatening,  hope  and  fear,  life  and 
death,  with  a  sovereign  disposal  that  is  blasphemous 
unless  it  unerringly  proceeds  from  the  mind  of  the 
Holy  One.  Rejecting  the  Inspiration  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  a  man  may  generalize  a  system,  may  embrace 
a  faith,  may  be  the  sincere  and  earnest  advocate  of 
a  creed,  may  inculcate  and  practice  a  religion  ;  but 
that  system,  that  faith,  that  creed,  that  religion  is 
not,  cannot  be  Christianity. 


*John  14,  26. 


t  I,  Tim.  3,  16. 


A  U  THOR  IT  Y  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


93 


* 

Let  “the  natural  man,”  who  “  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness 
unto  him — neither  can  he  know  them  because  they 
are  spiritually  discerned  ”  * — let  such  an  one  pass 
through  the  Bible  with  his  profane  eclecticism  ;  let 
him  amend  the  record,  expunge  the  supernatural, 
argue  the  conclusions  and  advance  from  the  ob¬ 
solete  ;  let  him  liberalize  the  exclusiveness,  soften 
the  denunciations,  and  blot  out  the  cross ;  then, 
patronizing  its  morality,  let  him  substitute  reason 
for  faith,  and  the  mystic  Glory  has  departed  from 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  leaving  the  sceptic  to 
roam  drearily  through  a  temple  forsaken  of  its  God. 
It  is  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible  that  constitutes 
it  the  guide  to  Immortality.  Remove  this  and  all 
sanction  to  human  hope  is  gone.  Nothing  is  offered 
to  soothe  the  unrest  of  the  soul  that  rises  above  the 
source  of  its  own  perplexities  and  fears.  Wearied 
Speculation,  no  longer  controlled  by  the  accom¬ 
panying  cloud  and  fire  of  the  Divine  Guidance, 
searches  in  vain  for  some  promised  land,  and  dies 
disappointed  in  the  trackless  wastes  of  its  earlier 
wanderings. 

The  authoritv  of  the  written  Revelation  has  re- 
ceived  the  attention  of  the  ablest  minds,  and,  as  we 


*  I,  Cor.  2,  14. 


94 


Til  OS.  D.  ANDERSON. 


think,  has  been  established  by  several  distinct 
courses  of  argument.  We  confine  ourselves  to  one. 
We  offer  in  evidence,  for  the  infallibility  of  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  no  less  a  witness 
than  the  Son  of  God.  It  may  be  objected  that  this 
touches  only  one  portion  of  the  Bible.  We  admit 
it,  but  reply  :  First,  In  the  nature  of  the  case  it  is 
only  to  the  Old  Testament  that  our  line  of  proof 
can  apply.  But  it  applies  to  it  as  a  whole,  for 
Christ  referred  to  the  volume  which  had  been 
collected  together  and  recognized  as  the  Word  of 
God  in  His  time  under  its  familiar  title,  “The  Law, 
The  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms,”  accepting  all  as  of 
Divine  authority.  Second,  The  Inspiration  of  the 
Old  Testament  is  much  more  frequently  questioned 
than  that  of  the  New.  Third,  The  Old  Testament 
contains  in  its  history,  its  law,  its  prophecies,  and 
its  ritual,  the  foundation  of  and  preparation  for  the 
New  Testament.  The  two  being  so  intimately  con¬ 
nected  that  if  the  authority  of  either  be  settled  it 
must  settle  that  of  the  other.  Fourth,  If  a  written 
Revelation  be  admitted  as  of  divine  authority,  we 
have  gained  the  principle,  and  may  leave  to  other 
methods  of  proof  and  criticism  the  settlement  on 
solid  ground  of  the  authenticity  and  genuineness  of 
the  entire  canon  of  the  word  of  the  God. 


A  UTHORITY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


95 

Jesus  Christ  gave  His  sanction  to  the  authority 

of  Revelation. 

He  so  enwrapped  Himself  in  the  written  word 
that  they  stand  or  fall  together.  It  is  impossible 
to  weaken  the  claim  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  to 
our  reverence  without  impeaching  the  testimony  of 
the  Son  of  God.  He  distinctly  asserted  Himself  to 
be  the  Light  of  the  World,  to  know,  as  He  only 
could,  the  Father,  and  yet  He  taught  that  a 
rejection  of  Moses’  writings  necessarily  implied  a 
disbelief  of  His  words.*  Few  may  be  bold  enough 
to  adopt  the  views  of  the  French  author  of  the 
“Life  of  Jesus;”  but  in  discarding  the  Inspiration 
of  the  Old  Testament  what  else  is  done  than  charg¬ 
ing  Him  who  spake  as  never  man  spake  with  prac¬ 
tising  on  the  credulity  of  His  hearers?  From  this 
impossible  hypothesis  we  turn  to  the  only  other 
alternative  and  accept  the  divine  authority  of 
“The  Law,  the  Prophets  and  the  Psalms” 
on  the  testimony  of  our  Lord  as  given  under  the 
three  following  forms: 

I.  Jesus  endorsed  the  Old  Testament  by  accept¬ 
ing  for  Himself  in  every  minute  particular  its 
portraiture  of  the  Messiah. 


*  John,  5,  47 . 


96 


THOS.  D.  ANDERSON 


The  original  and  peculiar  glory  of  the  Bible  is  its 
revelation  of  the  Messiah.  In  this  effort  Inspiration 
undertook  what  no  unaided  human  wisdom  could 
accomplish.  It  is  not  the  delineation  of  exalted 
manhood — not  the  ideal  of  human  perfection,  diffi¬ 
cult  as  such  a  task  would  be  for  a  fallen  and 
depraved  mind.  Deity  must  be  presented,  and  not 
merely  in  some  of  His  attributes,  nor  yet  as  a 
shadowy  form  on  the  distant  clouds  of  His  own 
glory,  but  as  a  well  defined  personality.  God  in 
man,  thinking,  feeling,  speaking,  acting  in  human 
relations,  proposing  the  recovery  of  the  lost  to  an 
immortality  of  holiness,  solving  the  mighty  problem 
of  remitting  Law’s  penalty  while  adding  sanction  to 
its  claims,  gathering  from  the  apparent  weakness  of 
death  the  resurrection  forces  of  eternal  life,  and  out 
of  the  mists  of  the  tomb  clothing  His  redeemed 
ones  with  the  garments  of  Glory. 

This  very  conception  stamps  the  Book  as  unique 
among  all  works  of  the  intellect.  Others  may  give 
us  the  condemnation  of  wrong  and  attempts  at  its 
correction,  the  record  of  heroes,  the  hopes  of  the 
virtuous,  the  philosophies  of  the  wise,  the  facts  of 
science  and  the  ideals  of  genius.  Nor  are  such 
efforts  to  be  despised.  The  human  intellect  has 
done  what  it  could.  If  it  could  not  soar  to  Heaven 


A  UTHORITY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


97 


and  leveal  “the  mystery  which  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world  hath  been  hid  in  God,”  *  it  is  only  be¬ 
cause  sin  is  not  holiness,  the  finite  cannot  compre¬ 
hend  the  Infinite,  humanity  is  not  divine.  Just 
here  is  the  distinction  between  the  Bible  and  all 
other  books.  In  these  the  human  speaks  ;  in  that 
the  Divine.  The  Bible  utters  thoughts  that  could 
originate  only  in  Jehovah’s  breast,  pencils  the  ideal 
of  the  man  who  is  His  fellow,  and  reveals  the  clear 
impressions  of  the  mould  into  which  was  cast  the 
life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who,  at  its  close,  was 
“  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  with  power,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  Spirit,  of  Holiness,  by  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.”  f 

.  This  attempt  at  portraying  the  Deity  in  flesh  is 
not  confined  to  any  single  portion  of  Holy  Writ. 
It  depends  on  no  isolated  scrap  of  glowing  imagery. 
Through  every  book  of  the  Old  Testament,  from 
the  promised  “  Seed  ”  of  Genesis;};  to  the  prediction 
of  Malachi  §  that  “  the  Lord  whom  ye  seek  shall 
suddenly  come  to  His  temple,”  “the  testimony  of 
Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy.”  || 

In  the  ordering  of  the  temple  worship  some  line 
of  the  Messiah  is  graven  on  every  thing.  From  the 

t  Gen.  3,  15. 

||  Rev.  19,  10. 


*  Eph.  3,  9. 

§  Mai.  3,  1. 


f  Rom.  1,  4. 


98 


THOS.  D.  ANDERSON. 


door  whereby  you  enter  until  you  approach  the 
Shekinah  between  the  Cherubim  on  the  Mercy 
seat ;  from  the  blood  of  the  victim  to  the  flashing 
breast-plate  on  the  High  Priest’s  robe ;  from  the 
daily  offerings  of  the  morning  and  evening  Sacrifice 
to  the  annual  ceremony  of  Atonement,  every  object 
and  every  rite  foreshadows  the  great  Propitiation. 

Men  were  specially  raised  up  that  Inspiration 
might  select  from  them  some  trait  of  disposition, 
some  act  of  power,  some  incident  of  life,  some 
position,  trial,  or  success,  or  some  spirit-taught  con¬ 
fession  that  should  tell  of  Him  who  was  to  come. 
Job  in  the  land  of  Uz  knows  that  his  “  Redeemer 
liveth.”  *  Abraham  in  Canaan  learns  that  in  his 
“  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed.”  f 
The  Patriarchs  around  the  dying  Jacob  in  Egypt 
hear  of  the  “Shiloh.”;);  The  “manna”  and  “rock” 
of  the  wilderness  teach  the  wandering  Israelites 
the  “  bread  ”  and  “  water  of  life.”  §  David  on 
Mount  Zion  sings  “  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd.”  [ 
Isaiah  beneath  the  waning  glories  of  the  Jewish 
Kingdom  chants  in  almost  evangelic  numbers  the 
triumphs  of  the  “Man  of  Sorrows.”**  Jeremiah 
in  the  midst  of  his  gloom  beholds  “  The  Lord  our 

*  Job  19,  25.  f  Gen.  22,  18.  \  Gen.  49,  10. 

§  John  6,  32,  48, 49  ;  1  Cor.  10,  4.  ||  Ps.  23,  1.  *  *  Isa.  53. 


A  UTHORITY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


99 


Righteousness.”  *  Ezekiel  by  the  river  of  Chebar 
describes  the  city  whose  name  is  “  The  Lord  is 
there.”  f  Daniel  in  Babylon  sees  the  increase  of 
“  the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountains,  without 
hands.”  ;f  Micah  celebrates  “Bethlehem  Ephrata” 
as  the  birth-place  of  the  “  Ruler  in  Israel.”  §  Hag- 
gai  announces  the  glory  of  the  “  latter  house  ” 
when  “  the  Desire  of  all  nations  shall  come.”  || 
Sechariah  counts  the  “thirty  pieces  of  silver”** 
weighed  as  the  price  of  atoning  blood.  Malachi, 
closing  the  canon  of  ancient  prophecy,  overleaps  the 
space  of  centuries,  and  standing  by  the  forerunner 
on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan  heralds  the  advent  of 
“  the  Lord  whom  ye  seek,”  “  even  the  messenger  of 
the  covenant  whom  ye  delight  in.”  ft 

All  this  the  Bible  records.  It  declares  where 
angels  only  wonder.  It  hesitates  not  to  prescribe, 
even  to  the  Lord  of  life  and  glory,  the  toil,  the  pov¬ 
erty,  the  temptation,  the  betrayal,  the  cross,  and  the 
tomb,  in  all  of  which  “  though  He  were  a  Son,  yet 
learned  He  obedience  by  the  things  which  He 
suffered.”^  And  all  this  the  Incarnate  Deity 
accepts.  Clasping  in  one  whole  all  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  Scriptures  under  their  recognized  title,  “  The 

*  Jer.  23,  6.  f  Ez.  48,  35.  %  Dan.  2,  44,  45.  §  Mic.  5,  2. 

|  Hag.  2,  7.  *  *  Zech.  11,  12.  f  f  Mai.  3,  I.  %  \  Heb.  5,  8. 


IOO 


T/ZOS.  D.  ANDERSON 


Law  of  Moses,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms,”  He 
subjects  to  their  exact  fulfilment  in  His  person  His 
claim  to  the  Messiahship. 

No  clearer  testimony  to  the  infallibility  of  the 
written  word  could  be  given  than  Christ  furnishes 
by  yielding  to  its  dictates  that  life  on  earth  whereon 
depended  the  salvation  of  men  and  the  glory  of 
God.  As  He  descends  from  His  Father’s  throne 
amid  the  silpnced  harps  of  heaven,  on  His  mission  of 
Redemption,  we  hear  the  voice  of  the  Anointed  ac¬ 
knowledging  the  authority  of  Inspiration  in  the 
memorable  words,  “  Lo,  I  come,  in  the  volume  of 
the  book  it  is  written  of  me,  I  delight  to  do  thy 
will  oh  my  God.”  *  He  becomes  incarnate  in 
Bethlehem,  because  “thus  it  is  written.”  f  He 
sojourns  in  Nazareth  “that  it  might  be  fulfilled 
which  was  spoken  by  the  Prophets.”  £  He  conde¬ 
scended  to  be  baptized  by  John  in  the  Jordan,  “for 
thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness.”  § 
He  turns  His  adversaries,  the  Jews,  to  their  sacred 
oracles  for  a  confutation  of  their  unbelief,  saying, 
“  Search  the  Scriptures  *  *  *  they  are  they  which 
testify  of  me.”  || 

This  conforming  of  His  life  to  the  requirements  of 

*  Is.  40,  7,  8.  f  Matt.  2,  5.  :£  Matt.  2,  23. 

§  Matt.  3,  15.  1  John  5,  39. 


A  UTHORITY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


IOI 


Revelation  is  all  the  more  striking  when  we  observe 
with  what  exalted  dignity  the  Lord  uniformly  with¬ 
draws  His  conduct  from  human  dictation.  When 
the  eager  ambition  of  His  kindred  advised  His  going 
up  to  the  Feast,  that  He  might  be  seen  openly, 
“  He  abode  still  in  Galilee.”  *  When  the  love  of 
His  disciples  would  restrain  Him  from  meeting  the 
fury  of  the  Jews,  He  asks  them,  “  Are  there  not 
twelve  hours  in  the  day,”  f  and  steadily  presses  on 
to  Jerusalem.  When  the  demand  is  curiously  made 
either  by  the  versatile  populace  or  by  the  royal 
Herod  for  a  “sign,”  J  divinity  veils  itself  within  the 
visage  of  weakness  and  sorrow,  and  they  only 
“  esteem  Him  stricken,  smitten  of  God  and 
afflicted. ”§  Even  maternal  interference  must  not  en¬ 
ter  the  inner  shrine  where  rests  Omnipotence,  or  the 
firm  yet  gentle  inquiry,  “  Woman  what  have  I  to  do 
with  thee?” [  reminds  Mary  that  her  Son  is  Lord  and 
only  to  be  obeyed.  Human  judgment,  friendship, 
wisdom,  love,  must  not  be  allowed  to  counsel  the 
omniscience  of  the  incarnate  Word,  but  the  slightest 
whisper  of  the  Book  is  respected. 

At  the  remembered  prediction  of  indignant  zeal 
the  Temple  is  swept  of  its  profane  occupants.*  * 

*  John  7,  9.  f  John  11,  9.  f  John  6.  30  ;  Lu.  23,  8,  9.. 

§  Isa.  53,  4,  ||  John  2,  4.  *  *  Ps.  69,  9  ;  John  2,  17. 


102 


THOS.  D.  ANDERSON. 


That  in  Him  might  converge  the  lines  of  contrast 
which  had  drawn  the  picture  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
King  of  Zion,  He  rides  down  the  slope  of  Olivet, 
“  sitting  upon  an  ass,  and  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass,” 
and  enters  the  city  amid  the  shouts  of  the  multitudes 
as  they  cry  “  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  ;  Hosanna  in  the  highest.”  *  At  last 
on  the  Cross,  His  eye  already  closing  in  death  fixes 
on  one  lone  and  almost  undiscernible  prophecy  not 
yet  fulfilled.  His  drooping  head  is  raised,  a  quiver 
passes  through  His  nearly  pulseless  frame,  His  lips 
part  and  Jesus  says,  “I  thirst” — yes,  “that  the 
Scripture  might  be  fulfilled  saith  I  thirst.”  “  They 
filled  a  sponge  with  vinegar,  put  it  upon  hyssop  and 
put  it  to  His  mouth.”  “  When  Jesus  therefore  had 
received  the  vinegar,”  but  not  till  then,  “  He  said  ‘  It  is 
finished,’  and  He  bowed  His  head  and  gave  up  the 
Ghost.”  f  Oh  wonderful  Book,  whose  minutest 
prophecy  must  protract  the  dying  agonies  of  the  Son 
of  God  that  it  may  become  history  !  He  waits  for 
the  simple  sponge  touch  to  His  fevered  lips  before 
He  cries  “  It  is  finished,”  because  “  all  things  must 
be  fulfilled  which  were  written  in  the  Law  of  Moses, 
and  in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning  ” 
Him. 


*  Zech.  9,  9;  Matt.  21,  5,  9. 


Ps.  69,  21  ;  John  19,  28-30. 


A  UTHOR/TY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


103 


Unimpeached  must  forever  remain  the  truth  of 
the  Old  Testament  while  its  prophecies  of  the  com¬ 
ing  Christ  are  chosen  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  record 
His  history  from  the  birth  at  Bethlehem  to  the 
ascension  on  Olivet.  Christian  would  you  learn 
God’s  estimate  of  the  Bible?  Look  on  Him,  who 
was  “the  brightness  of  His  glory  and  the  express 
image  of  His  person,”  *  living  to  verify  it  and  dying 
to  fulfil  it.  Reflect  that  in  its  lofty  aims  the  aspira¬ 
tions  of  the  God-man  were  satisfied  ;  that  in  its 
prescribed  duties  “  the  Word  made  flesh  ”  exhibited 
His  sinless  life;  and  that  “  for  the  joy  that  was  set 
before  Him  ”  in  its  divine  promises  “  He  endured 
the  Cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.”  f  The  more 
you  reverence  its  wisdom,  follow  its  guidance,  and 
obey  its  precepts,  the  more  will  you  be  like  Christ. 

II.  Jesus  taught  that  the  Old  Testament  infallibly 
revealed  the  truth  of  God,  and  that  appeal  to  its 
authority  was  final. 

The  light  that  projected  the  Saviour’s  life  as  a 
sublime  fact  along  the  world’s  history  He  chose 
should  have  its  source  in  the  holy  Scriptures  rather 


*  Heb.  1,  3. 


f  Heb.  12,  2. 


104 


THOS.  D.  ANDERSON. 


than  shine  out  independently  from  heaven.  The 
witnesses  to  whose  testimony  He  referred  in  proof 
of  being  the  Anointed,  for  He  received  “not  testi¬ 
mony  from  man,”  were  the  “Father”  and  “His 
word.”  *  He  charges  the  religious  errors  of  the 
Jews  directly  to  their  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures. 
“Ye  do  err  not  knowing  the  Scriptures  and  the 
power  of  God.”  f  He  at  the  same  time  corrects 
their  mistakes  and  teaches  them  the  truth,  not 
by  a  fresh  revelation,  but  by  the  record  of  what 
God  had  spoken  to  their  fathers,  saying,  “  I  am 
the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob.”  ^  Replying  to  the  question  of  the 
Lawyer,  “  Which  is  the  great  commandment  of  the 
Law?”  He  allows  of  no  selection,  but  grouping  the 
whole  into  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  asserts  that 
“  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets.”  §  By  His  constant  reference  to 
“the  Law”  He  appeals  to  the  authoritative  decision 
of  what  is  written.  He  asserts  its  binding  force  on 
every  man,  when  He  declares  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  “  I  am  not  come  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil,” 
and  repudiates  forever  the  boast  of  human  progress 
that  it  has  outgrown  the  written  Revelation  by  the 

f  Matt.  22,  29. 

§  Matt.  22,  36-40. 


*  John  5,  34,  37,  38. 

$  Matt.  22,  32  ;  Ex.  3.  6. 


A  UTHORITY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


105 


solemn  announcement,  “  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass, 
one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the 
Law  till  all  be  fulfilled.”  *  He  refers  His  rejection 
by  the  Jews  to  their  disbelief  of  Moses  writings, 
“  For  had  ye  believed  Moses  ye  would  have  believed 
Me,  for  he  wrote  of  Me ;  but  if  ye  believe  not  his 
writings  how  shall  ye  believe  My  words.”  f  Here 
we  have  Christ’s  own  assertion  that  no  independent 
authority  was  conferred  on  His  words  to  compel  the 
assent  of  those  who  rejected  the  record  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  Spirit  who  dwelt  in  Christ  without 
measure,  did  not  supersede  His  earlier  revelations. 
Nor  is  this  all.  The  multitudes  regarding  Jesus  as 
more  than  man  followed  Him  everywhere  to  behold 
the  wonders  which  He  did,  and  seemed  to  cling  to 
the  delusion  that  some  new  miracle,  some  stranger 
sign  or  some  further  display  of  power  would  free 
them  from  perplexity  and  solve  their  doubts ;  but 
how  hopelessly  must  have  fallen  on  such  the  closing 
words  of  our  Saviour’s  narrative  of  “  the  rich  man 
and  Lazarus,”  “  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the 
Prophets  neither  will  they  be  persuaded  though  one 
rose  from  the  dead.”  ^ 

The  Incarnate  Word  determines  that  nothing  shall 
rise  above  the  authority  of  the  written  word.  His 


*  Matt.  5,  17,  18. 


f  John  5.  46.  47. 


\  Luke  16.  31. 


I06  THOS.  D.  ANDERSON. 

revelations  of  “  the  mystery  which  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  world  hath  been  hid  in  God,”  are  all 
made  in  the  line  of  light  which  shines  from  Inspira¬ 
tion.  The  unfolding  of  His  own  person  and  work  is 
but  the  interpretation  of  earlier  symbols.  In  no  in¬ 
stance  is  the  truth  of  the  past  centuries  allowed  to 
be  set  aside  as  unworthy  the  study  of  the  present. 
His  stern  rebuke  fell  on  them,  who  “  made  the  com¬ 
mandment  of  God  of  none  effect  by  their  tradition.”  * 
While  the  glories  of  the  new  dispensation  were 
represented  as  the  sequel  of  an  earlier  covenant 
when  Jesus,  in  the  Synagogue  at  Nazareth,  after 
reading  from  Isaiah’s  roll  said,  “  This  day  is  this 
scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears.”  f 

The  attitude  of  reverence  which  the  Saviour  ever 
held  toward  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament,  is 
both  striking  and  instructive.  We  can  draw  no  line 
of  distinction  between  His  obedience  to  the  will  of 
the  Father  dwelling  in  the  depths  of  His  own  con¬ 
sciousness  and  that  which  was  expressed  on  the  sacred 
page.  The  truth  of  the  one  was  as  infallible  as  that 
of  the  other,  and  alike  He  reflected  the  glory  of 
both.  In  His  essential  oneness  with  the  Father  He 
stands  apart  from  all  created  beings,  but  in  His 
obedience,  learned  although  a  Son,  we  have  the 


*  Matt.  15,  6. 


f  Luke  4,  21  ;  Isa.  61,  1. 


A  UTHORITY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


107 


bright  example  that  directs  His  followers  through 
all  ages  to  the  living  oracles  as  the  Truth  by  which 
they  are  sanctified.*  The  fountain  source  of  that 
stream  which,  through  His  weary  pilgrimage  on 
earth,  ever  refreshed  the  strength  of  God’s  Eternal 
Son,  must  be  divine.  Nor  could  its  waters,  through 
their  flow  of  centuries,  have  borne  to  Him  one  drop 
impure. 

III.  Jesus  showed  that  resistance  to  temptation 
is  effected  only  by  adherence  to  the  written  word. 

When  we  carefully  review  our  Lord’s  temptation 
in  the  wilderness  we  discover  one  of  the  most  re¬ 
markable  instances  of  deference  to  Revelation 
possible.  The  One  to  whom  the  tempter  came  was 
Himself  divine.  All  stores  of  knowledge  were  at 
His  disposal.  All  influences  were  beneath  His  con¬ 
trol.  To  show  His  personal  authority  a  fresh  com¬ 
mand  might  have  leaped  from  His  lips  and  instant 
obedience  have  been  enforced.  Nor  are  we  per¬ 
mitted  to  doubt  that  had  this  been  the  better 
or  more  effective  way,  it  would  have  been  adopted 
by  Him  whose  ways  are  perfect.  When,  therefore, 
we  find  the  Son  falling  back  on  what  the  Holy 


*  John  17,  17. 


io8 


THOS.  D.  ANDERSON 


Spirit  long  since  had  committed  to  writing,  we  may 
conclude  that  even  He  had  no  more  sure  resistance 
to  the  power  of  temptation  than  an  exact  adherence 
to  the  Inspired  word. 

In  this  conflict  with  the  arch-deceiver  in  three 
■different  directions  is  the  word  interposed  by  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation  as  a  shield  against  his 
subtle  shafts. 

It  is  opposed  to  the  demands  of  our  nature  and 
the  cravings  of  appetites  originally  implanted  by  the 
Creator,  when  inciting  to  sinful  gratification. 

It  is  used  to  ward  off  the  attacks  made  on  our 
fidelity,  that  gather  their  force  from  the  common 
impulses  of  our  humanity. 

And  when  a  captious  spirit,  arraying  one  passage 
of  God’s  word  against  another,  would  betray  its 
victim  into  a  false  credulity,  Jesus  assumes  that  the 
unity  of  Inspiration  renders  such  a  strife  impossible 
and  enforces  the  plain  command. 

Does  famished  nature  second  the  temptation  of 
the  evil  one?  Its  voice  is  disregarded.  It  may 
plead  its  necessities.  It  may  argue  that  Revelation 
cannot  be  presumed  to  oppose  nature  when  both 
proceeded  from  Jehovah.  It  may  deprecatingly  cry 
God  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice.  But,  no  l 


A  UTHORITY  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


IO9 

In  distrust  of  the  Father  these  stones  must  not  be 
turned  into  bread,  for  “  It  is  WRITTEN,  man  shall 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  Mouth  of  God.”  * 

In  a  seeming  conflict  between  the  inferences  to  be 
drawn  from  different  passages  of  the  Bible  might  not 
Jesus  avail  Himself  of  this  uncertainty  for  the 
attainment  of  some  high  purpose?  To  prove  His 
Messiahship  might  He  not  cast  Himself  from  the 
pinnacle  of  the  Temple  sustained  by  the  promise, 
“  He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  concerning  thee  ; 
and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at 
any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone?  ”f 
No,  not  when  plainly  “  It  is  WRITTEN  again,  Thou 
shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God.”  ^ 

When  success,  that  charm  to  noble  minds,  offers 
itself  with  all  its  appliances  for  good  ;  when  with 
the  sceptres  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  within 
His  grasp,  He  so  easily  may  make  them  the  King¬ 
dom  of  God  ;  when,  without  passing  through  the 
agony  of  Gethsemane,  the  death  of  the  Cross,  and 
the  darkness  of  the  grave,  He  may  sway  the  empire 

*  Matt.  4,  4  ;  Deut.  8,  3.  f  Matt.  4,  6  ;  Ps.  91,  11,  12. 

\  Matt.  4,  7  ;  Deut.  6,  16. 


I  IO 


THOS.  D.  ANDERSON. 


of  the  world  by  just  one  outward  act  of  allegiance 
to  its  great  Prince :  May  not  the  Man  of  Sorrows, 
already  bowed  so  low,  atoning  by  an  eternity  of 
loyal  blessedness  for  one  brief  surrender  to  the 
tempter,  fall  down  in  homage  at  his  feet  ?  Saviour 
forgive  the  bare  union  of  Thy  name  with  such 
a  thought !  Thy  own  answer  is  already  in  our 
ears  :  “  Get  thee  hence,  Satan  :  for  it  is  WRITTEN, 
Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him 
only  shalt  thou  serve.”  * 

A  more  exalted  position  can  never  be  given  to  the 
Sacred  volume.  It  was  worn  as  the  breast-plate  of 
righteousness  by  the  Captain  of  our  Salvation  in  all 
the  conflicts  of  the  war  He  waged  with  the  spoiler. 
It  was  the  inspiration  of  strength  breathed  by  the 
Spirit  into  the  sorrowing  heart  of  Jesus  as  He  was 
being  made  perfect  through  suffering.  It  was  the 
seal  of  the  Father’s  approval  of  the  Son’s  mission, 
and  told  when  the  work  of  redemption  was  finished. 

Had  Jesus  lived  His  life  on  earth  for  no  other  pur¬ 
pose  than  to  throw  the  sanction  of  His  omniscience 
around  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  we  see  not 
how  more  perfectly  He  could  have  accomplished  His 
design.  He  excepted  nothing  as  the  interpretation 


f  Matt.  4,  io  ;  Deut.  6,  13,  14. 


A  U  THOR  IT  Y  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


I  I  I 


of  error.  Nothing  was  so  old  as  to.  be  declared 
obsolete.  Nothing  was  so  wonderful  as  to  be  ex¬ 
punged.  The  separate  books  composing  the  canon 
had  long  before  been  collected  into  one,  and 
recognizing  them  all,  as  He  did  in  our  text,  by  their 
common  title,  “  The  law  of  Moses,  the  Prophets  and 
the  Psalms,”  Christ  has  forever  established  the 
authority  of  the  sacred  writings  of  His  time. 

In  thus  establishing  the  authority  of  the  Old 
Testament  the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  Christ 
has  also  established  the  authority  of  the  New 
Testament  provided  it  bears  the  marks  of  genuine¬ 
ness.  Into  this  argument,  so  often  and  so  ably 
settled,  we  cannot  enter.  When,  however,  we  be¬ 
come  willing  to  discredit  the  only  record  that  bears 
to  us  the  life  and  teachings  and  death  and  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  the  Son  of  God,  our  subject  will  have  lost  its 
interest,  for  to  us  Christianity  will  be  no  more. 

To  the  Bible  then,  my  brethren,  as  held  up  before 
us  in  its  divine  authority  by  our  Lord  let  us  always 
refer  our  Christian  life.  The  one  can  be  approved 
only  as  it  is  the  transcript  of  the  other.  The  rela¬ 
tion  between  them,  as  illustrated  by  the  testimony  of 
Jesus,  is  threefold:  that  of  Ideal,  Instruction,  Pro¬ 
tection.  The  only  true  conception  of  the  Christian 


I  12 


THOS.  D.  ANDERSON. 


life,  of  its  nature,  impulses,  and  aims,  is  derived 
from  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Into  this  heaven-drawn 
mould  run  the  warm  affections  of  the  soul  until  the 
renewed  nature  bears  in  high  relief  every  impression 
of  the  divine  pattern. 

In  all  perplexities  the  Christian  has  but  one  in¬ 
fallible  source  of  wisdom.  Instead  then  of  arguing 
when  Inspiration  soars  above  reason,  instead  of  ac¬ 
cepting  as  conclusions  the  intuitions  of  a  fallen 
mind,  instead  of  being  spoiled  “through  philosophy 
and  vain  deceit  after  the  traditions  of  men,  after 
the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after  Christ,”  * 
let  faith  accept  the  “  More  sure  word  of  prophecy 
whereunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed  as  unto  a 
light  that  shineth  in  a  dark  place  until  the  day 
dawn  and  the  day  star  arise  in  your  hearts.”  f 

Exposed  to  the  malignant  assaults  of  Satan  you 
can  gain  no  cover  from  his  thrusts  better  than  by 
retiring,  as  your  Saviour  did,  behind  the  written 
word.  Your  arguments  he  can  overthrow:  your  in¬ 
tentions  he  can  frustrate;  your  will  he  can  trample 
down.  But  the  command  of  his  Sovereign  and 
yours  even  the  Devil  must  respect,  and  from  the 
wielded  power  of  divine  Truth  he  is  compelled 
to  flee. 


*  Col.  2,,  8. 


f  2  Per.  i,  19. 


A  U  THOR  IT*  V  OF  RE  VELA  TION. 


1 1 3 

Blessed  Jesus  as  the  sweetest  substitute  for 
Thy  personal  presence  along  the  path  of  life,  open 
Thou  our  understandings  that  we  may  understand 
the  Scriptures. 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION. 


By  THOMAS  ARMITAGE,  D.  D. 


John  x  :  38.  The  Father  is  in  Me. 

The  masterly  genius  of  Goethe,  as  interpreted  by 
Carlyle,  discovers  the  predestined  glory  of  Christ’s 
religion.  He  creates  the  hut  of  a  fisherman,  and 
makes  it  the  mysterious  centre  upon  which  the  eyes 
of  benighted  generations  rest  with  hope,  till,  at  last, 
it  becomes  to  them  the  most  beautiful  temple.  He 
breathes  immortal  life  into  this  story  in  these  words : 
“  By  virtue  of  the  lamp  locked  up  in  it,  the  hut  had 
been  converted  from  the  inside  to  the  outside  into 
solid  silver.  E’er  long,  too,  its  form  changed ;  for 
the  noble  metal  shook  aside  the  accidental  shape  of 
planks,  posts  and  beams,  and  stretched  itself  out 
into  a  noble  case  of  beaten  ornamented  workman¬ 
ship.  Thus,  a  fair  little  temple  stood  erected  in  the 
middle  of  the  large  one  ;  or,  if  you  will,  an  altar 
worthy  of  the  temple.”  This  passage  is  one  of  the 
finest  possible  parables  of  the  simple,  the  profound, 
the  natural,  and  the  true,  that  can  be  given  for  the 
perfect  expression  of  a  divine  work,  either  in  nature 


THOMAS  ARM  IT  AGE. 


I  16 

or  redemption.  It  carries  you  back  to  the  lowest 
and  highest  phases  in  the  philosophy  of  nature,  as 
well  as  to  the  profound  results  of  metaphysical  rea¬ 
soning  ;  for  all  nature  displays  its  true  beauty  by  an 
outcome  from  its  interior  bosom  to  its  exterior  de¬ 
pendencies,  from  the  timid  violet,  blushing  amongst 
the  clover-leaves  under  the  hawthorne,  to  the  burn¬ 
ing  sun  in  the  centre  of  our  planetary  system.  On 
the  wings  of  the  wind,  the  modest  violet  waves  its 
invisible  vapours  of  incense,  from  the  life  within  to 
the  life  without,  while  the  gorgeous  sunbeam  flows 
from  the  fiery  sun  to  penetrate  all  space.  What  is 
true  in  nature  is  also  just  as  real  in  spiritual  being, 
and  is  nowhere  seen  more  clearly  than  in  Christ  and 
Christianity.  Christ  is  the  great  central  fact  in  the 
history  of  this  world,  and  as  every  living  phenom¬ 
enon  must  first  naturalize  and  then  authenticate  it¬ 
self,  by  proving  its  source,  it  becomes  us  to  inquire 
whence  came  this  unique,  mental,  moral,  and  spirit¬ 
ual  Being.  He  makes  himself  the  standard  of  virtue 
— keeps  the  brain  of  the  world  perpetually  on  the 
stretch — shapes  all  the  forms  of  civilization  which 
he  touches — controls  men’s  convictions,  affections 
and  actions,  and  maintains  his  empire  in  a  life  and 
stability,  which  seem  to  have  interwoven  it  with  the 
very  tissues  of  human  duration  itself.  If  he  is  the 


JE  S  US— HIS  SELF-IN  TR  0  SEE  C  TION.  i  i  y 

ineffable  temple  transformed  out  of  the  fisherman’s 
hut,  had  he  an  architect?  If  he  is  an  undying 
pulse,  who  first  invoked  his  life?  or  rather,  was  it 
invoked  at  all?  Whence  did  he  come?  Is  he  a 
creation  or  an  unoriginated  infinite  ?  Is  he  of  heaven 
or  of  men  ?  These  are  questions  which  a  child  may 
put,  but  which  he  alone  can  answer — which  men  did 
put  to  him,  and  which  he  did  answer.  They  de¬ 
manded  ;  “  Who  art  thou  ?  Whom  makest  thou  thy¬ 
self?”  And  he,  in  perfect  self-recognition,  opens  his 
heart,  speaks  out  of  its  abundance,  telling  them 
plainly  what  he  thinks  of  himself,  saying:  “  I  know 
whence  I  am,  and  whither  I  go.”  “  I  came  forth 
from  the  Father,  and  have  come  into  the  world  ; 
again,  I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the  Father.”  “  I 
and  the  Father  are  one.  The  Father  is  in  me  and 
I  in  the  Father.” 

Some  one  has  expressed  the  wish,  that  each  man’s 
breast  possessed  a  window,  through  which  all  the 
mechanism  of  his  inner  life  could  be  watched  in  its 
complex  movements.  The  wish  concedes  the  im¬ 
possibility  of  reading  the  secrets  of  the  heart’s  re¬ 
cesses  without  light  from  the  outside,  and  Bunyan 
with  a  master’s  hand  reveals  these  hidden  transac¬ 
tions,  when,  in  the  dark  room  of  the  Interpreter’s 
House,  by  a  ray  through  a  chinking  in  the  closed 


I  i  8  THOM  A  S  A  RMI TA  GE. 

shutter  all  that  is  in  the  room  is  discovered.  Each 
man  lives  two  lives,  the  inward  and  invisible  with 
the  outer  and  tangible  life.  But  the  outward  is  de¬ 
pendent  on  the  inward.  What  is  true  of  all  others, 
was  equally  true  of  Jesus.  Hence,  it  becomes  a 
question  of  the  highest  moment  for  us  to  know  what 
that  inner  life  of  Jesus  was,  which  gave  such  an  out¬ 
side  rendering  of  absolute  perfection.  If  his  ex¬ 
terior  life  is  the  translation,  by  words  and  acts,  of 
all  that  he  is  inwardly,  then,  we  shall  be  able  to  trace 
the  concrete  of  his  outward  life  to  the  abstract  vir¬ 
tue  of  his  inward  life.  We  know  that  this  inner  and 
outer  life  exists  in  our  own  persons,  for  in  us  the 
one  always  appeals  to  the  other,  and  under  these  ap¬ 
peals  the  outward  always  becomes  like  the  inward. 
In  some  respects  the  two  differ,  but  the  inward  man 
at  last,  must  always  give  its  true  worth  to  the  out¬ 
ward.  Clothe  the  outer  man  in  purple,  but  it  is 
worthless  if  the  soul  of  Dives  heaves  under  the  vest¬ 
ment,  or  wrap  it  in  rags,  and  the  soul  of  Lazarus 
throbbing  under  the  tatters  will  be  heroic,  even  God¬ 
like.  Rags  or  royalty  on  the  outer  man,  make  no 

» 

difference,  so  long  as  you  read  under  their  folds  the 
distinction  between  Dives  and  the  beggar,  in  the  in¬ 
ner  man.  The  worth  of  the  man,  nay,  the  whole 
man  lies  there,  and,  therefore,  the  real  man.  Our 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPEC TION.  j  i g 

Lord  himself  avowed  this  principle  in  the  words  : 
“  The  good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  his 
heart  sends  forth  good  things ;  and  the  evil  man  out 
of  the  evil  treasure  sends  forth  evil  things.  For  out 
of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaks.” 
The  mouth,  then,  is  the  channel  through  which  the 
soul  talks,  just  as  the  nostrils  are  the  tubes  through 
which  the  body  breathes.  Thus,  the  mouth  is  the 
Gate  Beautiful  through  which  you  reach  the  sanctu¬ 
ary  of  the  inner  soul,  the  orifice  through  which  the 
organs  of  speech  make  known  the  secret  utterances 
of  the  real  life.  But  every  man  talks  to  himself  be¬ 
fore  he  talks  to  others,  so  that  his  inner  life  is  the 
converse  which  he  has  with  himself,  and  when  his 
inner  thought  publishes  itself  by  vocal  utterance,  his 
inner  consciousness  becomes  public  property  by  that 
act.  So,  then,  if  that  introspection  falls  upon  the 
world’s  ear,  voiced  in  the  forms  of  command  or  the 
exactions  of  obedience,  as  in  the  behests  of  Jesus, 
the  world  has  a  right  to  know  by  what  authority  he 
can  enforce  his  mandate.  This  natural  right  gave 
pertinence  to  the  double  question  with  which  the 
world  plied  him  :  “  Whence  hast  thou  this  author¬ 

ity,  and  who  gave  thee  this  authority  ?  ”  The  words 
of  the  text  give  the  all-sufficient  reply  to  this  de¬ 
mand,  “  The  Father  is  in  me.”  Jesus  undertook 


120 


THOMAS  ARM  IT  AGE. 


to  overthrow  the  old  order  of  things  and  to  estab¬ 
lish  the  new;  it  was,  consequently,  of  prime  import¬ 
ance,  that  he  should  lay  before  men  his  authority, 
by  first  of  all  uttering  his  own  consciousness,  as  to 
who  he  believed  himself  to  be,  that  the  men  of  whom 
he  demanded  obedience  might  judge,  whether  or 
not,  his  acts  substantiated  his  claims.  Thus,  in  or¬ 
der  to  get  at  the  introspection  of  Jesus,  with  this 
end  of  evidence  in  view,  we  may  propound  the  some¬ 
what  bold  question,  as  to  ; — What  he  thought  of  him¬ 
self ’  and  who  he  claimed  to  be  in  consequence  !  No 
greater  question  has  ever  been  asked  of  men,  than 
that  which  Jesus  himself  submitted  ;  “  What  think 
ye  of  the  Christ?”  Nor  can  any  transcend  it,  un¬ 
less  we  venture  to  ask  what  Jesus  thought  of  him¬ 
self,  for  the  purpose  of  using  his  reply,  in  solving 
the  interrogation  which  he  puts  to  us.  Whatever 
his  self-recognition  might  be,  in  other  respects,  it 
appears  clear  from  the  four  Gospels,  that  again  and 
again  he  claimed  to  be  God,  in  the  true  and  proper 
sense  of  the  word.  He  asked  his  disciples,  “Whom 
say  ye  that  ]  am?”  Peter  answered,  “  The  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God.”  Jesus  replied,  “This is 
revealed  to  thee  by  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.” 
Again  to  Philip  he  said,  “  He  that  has  seen  me  has 
seen  my  Father  also.”  But  his  foes,  as  well  as  his. 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION . 


I  2  I 


friends,  demanded,  “Tell  us  plainly  if  thou  be  the 
Christ.”  Jesus  said,  “  I  and  my  Father  are  one.” 
Then  they  began  to  stone  him  as  a  blasphemer  ;  and 
he  asked,  “  For  which  of  these  good  works  do  you 
stone  me  ?  ”  They  answered,  “We  stone  thee  not 
for  a  good  work  but  for  blasphemy,  because  that  thou 
being  a  man  make st  thyself  God."  All  this  shows 
that  both  friends  and  foes  understood  him  to  claim 
that  he  was  God,  and  his  foes  laid  such  a  sense  upon 
his  words  as  to  expose  him  to  the  Jewish  death  penal¬ 
ty  of  stoning,  for  their  bold  use.  When  he  claimed 
to  be  God,  all  parties  clearly  understood  his  claim. 
In  like  manner,  when  Jesus  was  on  trial  before  the 
high  priest,  who,  as  the  highest  religious  authority, 
had  a  right  to  know  exactly  what  his  pretentions 
were,  and  who  put  the  most  solemn  oath  to  him 
then  known  in  Jewish  jurisprudence,  thus  ;  “  I  ad¬ 

jure  thee  by  the  living  God  that  thou  tell  us  if  thou 
be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ?  ”  With  the  calmest 
self-possession  he  responded,  “  I  am.”  Immediate¬ 
ly,  Caiaphas  exclaimed,  “  What  need  we  any  further 
witnesses?  You  have  heard  the  blasphemy.  What 
think  ye?”  Under  that  appeal  they  declared  him 
guilty,  and  decided  that  he  ought  to  die  under  their 
law,  because  he  claimed  the  prerogatives  of  God. 
They  understood  perfectly,  that  in  speaking  of  him- 


122 


THO  MA  S  A  RMI TA  GE. 


self  as  he  did,  he  claimed  a  oneness  in  knowledge, 
power  and  glory,  with  the  Father;  an  intrinsic 
affinity  with  him  in  essence.  He  was  on  trial  before 
the  Sanhedrim  for  his  life,  and  in  claiming  to  be 
God,  he  was  not  only  guilty  of  an  audacity,  an 
affrontery,  which  the  blindest  and  most  arrogant  en¬ 
thusiast  has  never  exceeded,  but  to  his  pretence  he 
added  deliberate  perjury,  if  he  were  not  God.  It 
therefore,  follows,  that  if  he  were  not  very  God,  his 
humanity  no  longer  stands  stainless  of  egregious 
vanity  and  presumption,  or  even  of  personal  guilt. 
In  that  case,  the  facts  stand  about  thus.  Here  is  a 
being  in  the  form  of  a  man,  having  all  the  appear¬ 
ances  and  infirmities  of  flesh  and  blood,  who  calls 
himself  God,  saying,  “  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the 
Father  in  me.”  Now,  no  man  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  either  before  or  since,  dared  to  claim  that  he 
was  God,  embodied,  incarnated.  Men  have  claimed 
to  represent  God,  as  his  instruments  and  envoys, 
but  no  man  ever  had  the  ineffable  boldness  to  avow 
himself  openly  and  distinctly  as  God,  excepting 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  In  the  mouth  of  any  other  man 
born  of  woman,  such  a  word  had  been  a  brazen  false¬ 
hood.  As  it  was,  even  his  own  kinsman  became 
alarmed,  and  gave  him  the  benefit  of  a  supposed  in¬ 
sanity  for  his  round  avowal,  saying,  “He  is  beside  him- 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION.  1 2  3 

self.”  And,  for  what  imaginable  reason  should  any 
man  set  himself  up  for  God,  if  he  knew  that  he  were 
not  ?  Why,  what  good  could  come  of  such  an  assump¬ 
tion?  An  ambitious  man  who  wished  to  be  great,  to 
sieze  power,  to  establish  an  empire,  or  even  to  found  a 
great  sect,  could  not  advance  such  empty  effrontery 
without  the  danger  of  exploding  his  pretentions  in 
a  moment.  A  man  who  claims  to  be  God  must  as¬ 
sume  to  be  the  corner-stone  of  all  things  that  exist. 
One  who  proclaims  himself  as  God’s  agent  or  ser¬ 
vant,  proclaims  something  sensible  and  serviceable, 
but  when  he  avows  himself  to  be  God,  he  creates 
difficulties  for  himself  as  great  as  his  claims.  For, 

4 

ever  after  that,  all  his  actions  must  be  the  actions 
of  God,  in  order  to  prove  himself  infinite.  And, 
this  would  be  especially  true,  where  the  primal  law, 
as  in  the  case  of  all  Jews,  thundered  out,  “  Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me.”  Then,  when 
Jesus  called  himself  God,  to  begin  with,  he  envel¬ 
oped  himself  in  the  most  unaccountable  difficulties, 
provided  that  he  were  not  God.  What  could  his 
motive  be?  This  question  leads  us  into  the  very 
heart  of  his  personal  introspection  and  its  results. 
Did  he  truly  believe  that  he  was  God?  You  must 
meet  the  question  of  his  inward  sincerity  and  good 
faith,  right  at  that  point.  Now,  do  you  believe  that 


124 


THOM  A  S  AR  MI  TA  GE. 


you  are  God  ?  Could  all  the  men  in  the  world  make 
you  believe  that  you  are  God  ?  But  he  professed  to 
believe  that  he  was  God — he  died  because  he  pro¬ 
fessed  this — and  he  died  in  professing  this.  Was  he 
sincere,  or  was  he  an  impostor  ?  We  must  look  that 
question  fairly  in  the  face.  Did  he  really  believe 
his  own  teaching  ?  Infallible  marks  attest  the  . sin¬ 
cerity  of  every  true  man,  and  signs  equally  infallible 
betray  the  imposition  of  every  impostor  ;  and  all 
men  who  claim  authority  bear  the  one  or  the  other 
of  these  marks.  In  which  of  these  classes  can  you 
justly  place  Jesus?  Can  you  determine  that  test  in 
any  other  way  than  by  the  inner  life  of  Jesus  him¬ 
self  ?  And,  if  not,  how  will  you  fix  the  true  type  of 
his  moral  character  ?  ..,  Most  certainly,  just  as  you 
would  that  of  -any  other  intelligent  being.  You 
must  anatomize  the  very  tissue  of  his  innermost 
thoughts, dn  al  1-t hat* constitutes  his  personal  inspec¬ 
tion  and  consciousness.  To  look  at  the  outer  life  of 
Christ  alone, -is,  as  when  one  stands  in  a  valley  and 
beholds  the  flow  oft  a  copious  stream,  spreading  fer¬ 
tility  all  around. v*  But  to  look  into  the  inner  life  of 
his  very -  hegrt,  is*  as:,  when  we  stand  high  bn  the 
mountain  air, 'an/Jj  see  the  live  spring  come  gushing 
out  of  the  side,  of  the  granite  itself.  -  It  may  be 
profitable  here  to  ask,  How  this  sc  If -recognition  of 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION. 


125 


deity  dawned  upon  the  Man  Christ  Jesus,  as  the  resu/t 
of  his  searching  introspection  f  Can  we'  attribute  the 
discovery  to  any  mental  defect  in  himself?  The 
very  supposition  flys  directly  in  the  face  of  the  fact, 
that  his  intellect  was  the  marvel  of  humanity,  in  all 
that  was  transparent,  profound  and  sublime.  His 
worst  enemies  of  to-day  unite  with  his  ancient  foes, 
in  saying,  “  Never  man  spake  Like  this  man  !  ”  ;  The 
wide  empire  of  his  thought  has  Universally,  excited 
the  wonder  of  the  world,  as  if  thought  had  never 
been  naturalized  in  any  6ther  mind.  Every  sen¬ 
tence  which  he  uttered  is  a  master-piece  of  unique¬ 
ness,  as  well  in  its  literature  as  in  its  philosophy.and 
spirituality.  There  is  nothing  ill-balanced  or  em¬ 
barrassed,  feverish  or  dis-jointed,  in  his  conversations 
or  discourses.  He  is  ever  tranquil,  measured,  exact, 
pungent  and  self-possessed.  Not  only  have  we  the 
imperial  intellect  in  him,  but  also  its  full  peer,  in  the 
imperial  heart.  No  other  man  has;  ever  existed  who 
was  perfectly  equal,  an  evenly  balanced  unit  in  his 
powers  of  thought  and  emotion,  much  less  the  high¬ 
est  possible  type  of  both.  Our  master  human 
minds,  generally  exhaust  themselves  completely  in 
the  utterance  of  great  thoughts,  because  the  thinking 
faculty  absorbs  their  whole  being.  But,  while  their 
whole  being  becomes  swallowed  up  in  thought,  their 


126 


THOMAS  ARMITAGE. 


heart  is  correspondingly  impoverished.  To  this, 
Jesus  is  the  one  mighty  exception.  Both  these 
declarations  are  true,  namely :  that  no  man  ever 
reached  his  power  of  thinking,  and  yet,  no  man  ever 
reached  his  power  of  loving.  Love  and  light  never 
had  such  a  blending  as  in  him.  After  a  life  of  in¬ 
effable  luminousness,  he  died  actually  imploring  for¬ 
giveness  on  his  murderers.  The  very  thought  is 
stupendous,  while  the  feeling  is  unfathomable. 
When  he  speaks,  he  casts  his  eye  into  the  infinite 
heights  of  revelation,  and  we  soar  into  its  sublimities 
after  him,  but  when  he  smiles,  he  presses  us  to  his 
bosom,  and  his  tender  affection  makes  our  hearts 
glow  while  we  are  folded  in  his  arms.  And,  as  if 
this  were  not  enough,  the  most  God-like  and  uncon¬ 
querable  will  is  also  found  in  him,  cooperating  with 
his  melting  heart  and  mental  sublimity.  Just  as  a 
helm  guides  a  ship,  so  this  controls  his  other  mighty 
characteristics.  He  was  absolutely  positive  in  all  that 
he  said,  and  felt,  and  did.  In  absolute  certainty,  he 
discovered  his  own  sinlessness,  looked  into  his  own 
heart  and  discovered  not  the  slightest  trace  of  taint 
there,  and  in  his  immaculateness  never  felt  the  twinge 
of  remorse,  or  the  shadow  of  moral  obliquity  for  him¬ 
self  ;  and  therefore,  never  breathed  out  one  confes¬ 
sion  of  personal  wrong-doing,  or  one  prayer  for  per- 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION. 


\2J 


sonal  pardon,  either  of  sin  or  infirmity.  So  absolute¬ 
ly  sure  was  he  that  he  was  without  spot,  or 
wrinkle  of  sin,  or  any  such  thing,  that  he  challenged 
his  most  unscrupulous  foes,  demanding,  “  Which  of 
you  convicts  me  of  sin?  ”  With  equal  decision  he 
claimed  to  be  God,  and  to  be  loved,  served,  and 
worshipped  as  God.  His  consciousness  of  the  truth 
of  this  claim  was  inflexible.  Hence,  he  left  it  to 
work  out  its  own  results  in  the  most  natural  way. 
The  fact,  that  he  declined  to  use  any  human  means 
in  order  to  assert  and  maintain  his  claims  as  God,  is 
the  highest  evidence  that  he  never  varied  in  his  own 
mind,  for  a  single  hour,  from  their  absolute  certainty. 
The  essence  of  God  within  him,  and  his  conscious¬ 
ness  of  the  divine  nature  of  his  own  inner  life,  became 
to  him  the  conscious  power  of  his  own  religion.  So 
perfectly  assured  was  he  that  his  claims  were  just, 
that  he  trusted  his  internal  conviction  as  the  only 
needful  force  to  send  those  claims  home  to  human 
hearts.  Few  men  can  bear  to  look  into  themselves. 
Their  own  discoveries  there  alarm  them.  But  the 
introspection  of  Jesus  did  not  in  any  way  startle  him. 
The  inner  forces  of  his  breast  were  the  Truth,  and  so 
his  outer  acts  were  simple  and  natural.  He  acted  as 
no  impostor,  or  man  of  distempered  mind  could  act. 
When  a  farmer  fills  his  hand  with  wheat,  what  is  his 


128 


THOM  A  S  AT  MIT  A  GE. 


inner  consciousness  about  its  growth  ?  That  it  needs 
human  power,  human  philosophy,  human  jurispru¬ 
dence  to  insure  that  growth  ?  Not  at  all.  But,  he 
says,  most  naturally,  “  Here  is  the  grain,  beneath  me 
is  the  earth,  and  above  me  are  the  heavens,  with 
their  moisture,  heat  and  chemistries,  and  so,  I  cast 
it  forth,  and  sow  in  hope.”  Jesus  did  exactly  that 
same  most  natural  thing.  He  neither  put  forth  his 
claims  tentatively,  nor  timidly,  so  that  friends  and 
foes  might  catch  their  mere  outline,  a  course  which 
would  at  opce  excite  inquiry  and  disarm  criticism. 
But,  he  launched  out  his  high,  abstract  demand  at 

;  -*  i 

once,  sharply,  and  in  all  its  boldness.  Like  the  sower, 
he  went  forth  full  of  the  good  seed,  saying  to  every 
man  whom  he  met  by  the  wayside,  “  I  am  the  Way, 
and  the  Truth,  and  the  Life,”  His  introspective  con¬ 
sciousness  left  one  philosophy  to  contend  with  an¬ 
other,  and  one  mental  force  to  battle  with  another, 

i 

till  the  thing  of  to-day  buries  the  thing  of  yesterday. 
He  contented  himself  by  sowing  the  seed  of  his  own 
absolute  convictions,  leaving  them  to  spring  up  anew, 
first  in  one  breast,  and  then  in  another,  and  another, 
till  man  after  man  came  to  look  upon  him  as  he 
lopked  upon  himself.  Thus,  to  this  day  by  his  own 
consciousness,  he  repeats  himself  still  in  the  convic¬ 
tions  of  his  disciples.  All  men  know  what  a  painful 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION. 


129 


labor  this  is  to  the  genius  of  the  greatest  artist,  who 
is  merely  an  artist.  He  has  a  vision  of  the  beauti¬ 
ful  and  true  in  his  inner  life.  Before  him,  in  the 
lustrous  infinitive,  he  has  seized  an  idea,  and  made 
it  his  own,  but  its  possession  torments  him  day 
and  night.  Why  is  he  troubled  ?  Because,  he 
would  produce  for  the  eyes  and  ears  of  other  men, 
what  he  has  seen  and  heard  with  his  own.  He 
thirsts  to  make  a  piece  of  canvas,  a  stone,  or  an 
alphabet,  express  his  soul-vision  to  them,  in  the  same 
poesy  and  tone  or  with  the  same  clearness  and  force, 
by  which  it  speaks  in  himself.  Just  as  long  as  there 
is  any  disparity  between  his  conception  and  its  ex¬ 
pression,  he  is  troubled,  he  remains  beneath  himself, 
and  weeps  over  the  inefficacy  of  his  own  genius, 
Such  is  the  law  of  production  both  in  nature  and  art, 
and  such  is  the  law  of  conviction  in  the  truth. 
Hence,  Jesus  himself,  acted  under  the  same  law  of 
development  which  he  laid  down  for  others,  saying, 
“  To  whom  much  is  given,  of  him  will  much  be  re¬ 
quired.” 

His  very  method  of  establishing  the  doctrine  of  his 
own  deity ,  therefore,  lays  bare  the >so undness  of  his  self- 
introspection .  While  the  result  was,  the  declaration 
that,  “  The  Father  is  in  me,”  yet,  he  neglected  all  the 
methods  that  any  other  naan  would  have  taken  to 


130 


THOMAS  ARM  IT  AGE. 


insure  success  in  the  general  admission  of  this  claim. 
Had  ambition  swayed  him,  instead  of  the  inward 
.satisfaction  that  he  was  God  incarnate,  like  Ma¬ 
homet,  he  would  have  seized  the  force  of  civil  power 
for  the  enforcement  of  his  ambition.  Napoleon 
caught  this  very  idea,  when  turning  to  Count  Mon- 
tholen,  on  the  rock  of  St.  Helena,  in  his  conversation 
about  great  men  of  the  ancient  world,  he  demanded, 
“  Tell  me  who  Jesus  Christ  was.”  When  the  Count 
declined  an  answer,  the  great  captain  replied  himself, 
in  the  words,  “  I  know  men,  and  I  tell  you  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  man.”  The  public  mind  of 
Palestine  was  excited  about  Jesus,  in  the  days  of 
his  flesh,  and  he  had  opportunities  enough  to  call  the 
act  of  government  to  his  aid,  as  many  who  have 
claimed  to  be  his  followers  have  done.  Israel  was 
then  rife  for  revolution,  and  twice  the  multitude  pro¬ 
posed  to  make  him  a  King.  Amongst  the  Jews,  pat¬ 
riots  were  constantly  rising  up,  who  proposed  to 
shake  off  the  Roman  yoke,  and,  that  too,  on  religious 
grounds,  claiming  prophetic  authority  for  the  inde¬ 
pendent,  national  reign,  of  the  promised  Messiah. 
But  he  borrowed  nothing  from  their  knowledge. 
He  left  the  mystery  of  his  claim  to  subsist,  by  its 
own  force.  The  originality  of  his  remarks  are  as 
marked  as  the  train  of  his  discoveries,  making  himself 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION.  i  3  1 

the  perfect  example  of  his  authoritative  demands. 
He  commanded  the  people  of  his  native  land,  to 
“  Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar’s,” 
while  they  also  render  to  “  God  the  things  that  are 
God’s.”  Nay,  so  far  from  claiming  the  chief  magis¬ 
tracy  of  his  nation,  he  spurned  all  approach  to  that 
claim,  even  predicting  the  dismemberment  and  ruin 
of  its  venerable  nationality.  Popularity  with  the 
masses  is  commonly  the  main-spring  of  rebellion,  but 
in  his  popularity,  he  did  two  of  the  most  unpopular 
things  that  he  possibly  could  do  ;  he  claimed  to  be 
their  God,  while  he  refused  to  be  elected  their  King. 
This  fact  gives  vou  a  remarkable  view  of  his  own  in- 
ner  consciousness.  So  firmly  fixed  was  this  con¬ 
sciousness  to  the  rightful  claim  of  deity-ship,  that  he 
restrained  his  disciples  from  all  trust  in  physical 
power,  and  prohibited  its  exercise  in  his  behalf. 
Their  strength  was  to  consist  in  adoring  him.  In  all 
their  troubles  they  were  to  be  meek,  lowly,  and  pa¬ 
tient,  like  “lambs.”  He  rebuked  them,  when  they 
wished  for  fire  from  heaven  to  consume  their  oppo¬ 
nents,  and  charged  them  with  ignorance,  as  to  what 
spirit  they  were  of.  In  a  word,  his  entire  instructions 
were  a  protest  against  the  assumptions  of  regal  life, 
and  he  more  than  ratified  them,  when  he  turned  from 
all  weapons  or  banners  in  the  field,  except  a  harmless 


132 


THOMAS  ARM  IT  AGE. 


cross,  and  from  the  life  of  a  monarch,  to  a  death  by 
crucifixion.  Besides,  all  this,  he  used  neither  philoso¬ 
phy  nor  science,  to  create  conviction  in  the  minds  of 
men,  touching  his  claim  to  be  believed  and  trusted  as 

God.  He  plied  no  man  with  such  influences.  His 

* 

philosophy  was  parables,  his  savants  were  fishermen. 
So  far  from  using  ordinary  scientific  wisdom,  he  first 
claims  to  be  God  and  then  proposes  to  die  ;  and  then, 
further  to  prove  the  true  consciousness  of  his  intro¬ 
spection,  he  offers  to  bind  the  faith  of  his  followers 
to  himself,  by  the  test  of  a  voluntary  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  Now,  was  ever  any  great  system  of 
religion,  or  other  mighty  institution  of  thought  and 
feeling,  established  on  the  earth,  without  civil  author¬ 
ity  or  human  forces,  such  as  government,  or  philoso¬ 
phic  skill,  or  scientific  aids?  Yet,  the  inner  life  of 
Jesus  rejected  the  use  of  every  form  of  these  appli¬ 
ances. 

Herein ,  appears  the  divinity  of  the  Nezv  Testament 
teaching  on  this  subject.  Everywhere  it  sets  forth 
Christ  as  an  intelligent  being,  who  from  eternity  into 
time,  and  onward  again  from  time  into  eternity 
maintained  a  continuous  knowledge  of  unbroken 
identity.  Yet,  to  his  human  nature  when  united 
with  the  divine,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  nat¬ 
ural  development,  from  the  dawning  sense  of  this 


JE  S  US— HIS  SELF-IN  TR  0  SEE  C  TION. 


133 


union  to  its  full  self-assertion.  No  knowledge  of 
God  can  report  itself  to  us  from  without,  but  must 
spring  from  the  bosom  of  Jehovah  himself,  as  none 
by  “  Searching  can  find  out  God.”  Concerning  the 
childhood  and  youth  of  Jesus,  we  know  but  little.  We 
are  told,  however,  that  “  The  child  grew  and  became 
strong,  being  filled  with  wisdom  ;  and  the  favour  of 
God  was  upon  him.”  And,  again,  that  he  “  Increased 
in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favour  with  God  and 
men.”  Mary,  his  mother,  treasured  up  all  the  say¬ 
ings  of  God,  of  angels,  and  men,  concerning  her  Son, 
and  pondered  them  to  her  heart.  But  we  have  no 
record  of  the  circumstances  which  guided  his  intel¬ 
lectual  development,  till  the  time  of  his  public  his¬ 
torical  appearance,  A.  D.  29  or  30.  Yet,  clearly,  we 
do  no  violence  to  the  analogy  of  his  growth,  in  other 
respects,  by  inferring  that  his  consciousness  of  his 
high  rank  dawned  upon  him  from  the  depths  of  his 
own  existence,  with  the  first  moments  of  his  high 
religious  life.  The  first  record  of  this  self-recognition 
is  linked  with  his  visit  to  the  temple,  at  the  age  of 
twelve.  Doubtless  his  own  soul,  when  a  child  and 
youth,  had  many  times  met  and  pondered  upon  the 
momentous  questions,  “  What  am  I  ?  Who  am  I  ? 
and  What  is  my  work?”  On  this  visit  to  the  temple, 
the  clear  answer  was  given.  After  three  days  ab- 


134 


THOM  A  S  A  RM I TA  GE . 


sence,  his  mother  said  to  him,  “  Thy  father  and  I 
have  sought  thee  sorrowing.”  He  replied,  “  How  is 
it  that  ye  sought  me  ?  Did  ye  not  know  that  I  must 
be  in  my  Father’s  house?  And  they  understood 
not  the  saying  that  he  spoke  to  them.”  But,  he  fully 
understood  the  import  of  his  own  words.  He  had 
reached  a  great  crisis  in  his  work,  when  the  mys¬ 
teries  of  a  dozen  years  were  suddenly  brought  from 
their  hiding  place,  by  the  transitions  of  a  moment. 
As  a  man,  he  awakes  to  the  hidden  truths  that 
“Joseph  is  not  my  father — I  am  the  Son  of  God — 
This  temple  is  my  Father’s  house — And  where 
should  His  Son  be,  but  in  His  own  home?”  From 
that  moment,  the  mysteries  of  his  own  life  never  seem 
to  have  saddened  or  perplexed  his  thoughts.  When 
that  revelation  cast  its  subduing  awe  athwart  his  hu¬ 
man  spirit,  all  shadowy  presentiments  fled  away  for¬ 
ever,  for  it  indelibly  drew  the  line  between  himself 
and  all  others.  One  beam  from  the  Deity  put  all 
inquiry  at  rest  in  the  calm  depths  of  his  human 
faculties  and  affections,  by  penetrating  all  the  prob¬ 
lems  of  his  life  at  a  stroke.  This  genuine,  artless, 
childlike  thought,  of  essential  fatherhood  in  Jehovah, 
kindled  ineffable  delight,  for  the  new  disclosure  had 
unfolded  his  life’s  sacred  mystery.  Evidently,  this 
hallowed  discovery  was  neither  an  accident,  an  in- 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION.  \  3 5 

stinct,  nor  an  involuntary  perception,  but  a  delicate 
self-discovery,  an  introspection  called  forth  by  the 
doctrinal  discussion  between  himself  and  the  author¬ 
ized  teachers  of  the  temple.  Jean  Paul  Richter  says, 
“  Never  shall  I  forget  the  inward  experience  of  the 
birth  of  self-consciousness,  of  which  I  well  remember 
both  time  and  place.  I  stood  one  afternoon,  a  very 
young  child,  at  the  house-door,  and  looked  at  the 
logs  of  wood  piled  on  the  left,  when  at  once  that  in¬ 
ward  consciousness,  ‘  I  am  a  Me ,’  came  like  a  flash  of 
lightning  from  heaven,  and  has  remained  ever  since.” 
The  difference  here  is,  that  Richter  discovered  his 
human  personality,  and  Jesus  his  divine;  and  that 
not  only  in  feature  and  outline,  but  in  full  portrait- 
ture,  by  the  vivid  and  warm  life  of  reality  and  in¬ 
finity.  Here  is  the  reason  why  the  child  may  tell 
you  that  Christianity  is  the  outcome  of  Christ ;  and 
why  the  wayfaring  man  knows  that  Jesus  is  the 
“Author  and  Finisher  of  his  faith.”  Here,  the 
visible  explains  the  unseen.  St.  Paul’s  in  London, 
speaks  to  you  of  Christopher  Wren,  and  St.  Peter’s 
in  Rome,  of  Michael  Angelo,  that  is,  if  you  read  men 
by  their  productions  ;  because  these  temples  were 

1 

built  from  foundation  to  dome  in  the  minds  of  their 
designers,  before  one  stone  was  laid  upon  another. 
The  ideals  of  Rubens  or  Raphael,  overwhelm  you 


136 


THOMAS  ARM  IT  AGE. 


with  grief,  or  wonder,  or  delight.  But  the  amaze¬ 
ment,  sorrow,  or  ecstacy  which  you  feel,  were  all  ex¬ 
perienced  by  their  authors  before  the  brush  had 
touched  the  canvas;  the  finished  creation  was  hung 
up  in  the  artist’s  soul  before  one  stroke  revealed  it  to 
any  other  eye.  The  great  Danish  sculptor  smiled 
most  affectionately  upon  the  huge  block  of  marble 
vhich  was  rolled  into  his  studio ,  and  he  patted  it  with 
glowing  tenderness.  When  asked  why?  Thorwald- 
sen  answered,  “  Because  in  its  centre  a  graceful  angel 
is  hidden.  I  will  chisel  away  this  worthless  coating 
but  will  not  scratch  a  line  or  a  limb.”  He  was  hon¬ 
est.  Still,  it  had  not  occurred  to  his  enthusiastic 
love  of  art,  that  as  yet,  there  was  no  outer  angel  of 
substance  in  that  rough  block.  Not  one  whit  the 
less,  however,  was  the  transcendent  image  which 
brings  tears  to  your  eyes  as  you  enter  the  church  of 
St.  Notre  Dame  in  Copenhagen,  enshrined  in  his  own 
mind,  in  all  its  gentle  perfection  ;  yet  no  spirit  had 
then  seen  the  enfolded  seraph  but  that  of  the  sculp- 
for  himself.  And,  just  as  his  celestial  one  must 
search  back  of  the  chisel,  the  hammer,  and  the  block, 
for  its  history,  so  our  divine  religion  finds  its  womb 
far  back  in  the  introspections  of  the  breast  of  Jesus. 
As  all  phenomena  has  its  cause,  so  he  is  the  his¬ 
torical  existence  of  Christianity  ;  for  the  faith  of. 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION. 


137 


nineteen  centuries  is  found  neither  in  his  acts  nor  his 
words,  but  in  his  hidden  inner  life.  If  you  would 
master  by  study,  the  empires  of  Caesar  and  Napoleon, 
you  must  study  the  lives  of  Caesar  and  Napoleon, 
internally  and  externally,  for  their  empires  are  but 
the  outgrowth  of  their  founders.  John  Stuart  Mill, 
that  clear,  cool,  apostle  of  doubt,  says,  “  The  life  and 
sayings  of  Jesus  place  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  in 
the  very  first  rank  of  the  men  of  sublime  genius,  of 
whom  our  species  can  boast.  When  this  preeminent 
genius  is  combined  with  the  qualities  of  probably 
the  greatest  moral  reformer  and  martyr  to  that  mis¬ 
sion,  who  ever  existed  upon  earth,  religion  can  not 
be  said  to  have  made  a  bad  choice  in  pitching  on  this 
man  as  the  ideal  representative  and  guide  of  hu¬ 
manity  ;  nor  even  now  would  it  be  easy,  even  for  an 
unbeliever,  to  find  a  better  translation  of  the  rule  of 
virtue  from  the  abstract  into  the  concrete,  than  to 
endeavour  so  to  live  that  Christ  would  approve  our 
life.”  With  this  remarkable  admission  before  me, 
then,  What  is  my  argument ,  to-day ,  from  Christ' s self- 
introspection ,  that  is ,  from  his  own  discoveries  of  his 
inner  life?  Simply  this.  His  intelligence  was  un¬ 
equalled  by  that  of  any  man  who  has  ever  lived  ; 
so  that  he  was  neither  demented  nor  insane.  Then, 
his  heart  was  as  tender  as  love  itself,  and  his  love 


THOM  A  S  ARMITA  GE. 


138 


was  the  very  sanctuary  of  chasteness.  There  was  no 
design  about  him  that  savoured  of  imposture.  He  was 
transparently  sincere,  even  the  essence  of  sincerity,  so 
that  he  believed  himself  to  be  absolutely  what  he 
professed  to  be.  Unselfishness,  humility  and  meas¬ 
ured  words,  show  him  to  have  been  sincere.  The 
very  attempt  to  have  imposed  such  an  absurdity  up¬ 
on  others,  would  have  exhibited  him  as  a  vain, 
empty,  shallow  pretender,  not  only  conceited  but 
audacious  ;  in  a  word,  a  willful  imposter,  derogatory 
to  Jehovah  and  abhorrent  to  men.  Skeptics  say, 
that  he  might  have  been  sincere  but  mistaken. 


Then  I  remind  them,  not  only  of  his  sublime  knowl 
edge  and  perfect  guilelessness,  but  of  his  deep  con¬ 
viction.  What  did  he  believe  himself  to  be  ?  Clear¬ 
ly  God.  This  he  declared,  privately  and  publicly, 
before  friend  and  foe.  “  Thou,  being  man,  makest 
thyself  God.”  There  was  no  mistaking  this  avowal. 
For  this  declaration  he  was  tried  by  an  ecclesiastical 
tribunal,  and  he  died  with  this  affirmation  lodged 
against  him.  Then,  he  believed  that  he  was  God. 
Was  he  a  madman,  an  impostor,  or  a  mere  simple¬ 
ton?  But  if  he  were  the  wisest  of  all  men,  he  was 
neither  simpleton  nor  madman,  and  if  the  sincerest 
of  all  men  then  no  impostor.  Being  the  soul  of  sin¬ 
cerity,  he  attempted  to  deceive  no  one,  being  the 


JESUS— HIS  SELF-INTROSPECTION. 


139 


wisest  of  all  men,  he  could  not  himself  be  deceived 
in  the  matter,  so  that,  he  could  not  believe  that  he 
was  God  without  being  God.  But,  if  he  did  not  de¬ 
ceive  others,  and  was  not  deceived  himself,  then,  be¬ 
lieving  himself  to  be  God  he  was  God.  So  then, 
either  he  was  God,  and  his  inner  conviction  thereof 
sprang  from  the  depths  of  his  veritable  being  ;  or  if 
he  were  not  God,  then,  he  is  the  greatest  miracle  in 
the  annals  of  intelligence,  and  sincerity,  and  hon¬ 
esty  ;  for  he  was  the  only  p< 


himself  to  be  God,  without 


lunatic  !  Intelligence,  sincerity  and  conviction,  blend 
here  with  reality.  What  say  you  to  these  things  ? 
Nothing,  but  what  the  introspections  of  Jesus  com¬ 
pelled  the  great  French  skeptic  to  say,  “  If  the  life 
and  death  of  Socrates  be  those  of  a  sage,  the  life  and 
death  of  Jesus  are  those  of  a  God.”  Or  perhaps, 
better  yet,  to  say  with  the  apostle  Thomas,  “  My 
Lord,  and  my  God.”  Or  even  better  than  all,  to 
cast  your  eye  of  faith  into  Christ’s  inner  bosom,  and, 
trusting  him  for  life  everlasting,  accept  and  rest  upon 
that  self-introspection  which  led  him  to  exclaim,  “  I 
and  my  Father  are  one.  He  in  me  and  I  in 
Him.”  Amen. 


CHRISTS  LAW  OF  CO-OPERATION. 


By  R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


RECTOR  OF  THE  ANTHON  MEMORIAL  CHURCH, 

NEW  YORK. 

“  Bear  ye  one  another’s  burdens,  and  so  fulfil 
THE  LAW  OF  CHRIST.”  GALATIANS  VI.,  2. 

If  there  be  a  unity  of  law  running  through  nature, 
binding  our  earth  with  the  starry  worlds  in  a  com¬ 
mon  system,  linking  the  lowermost  forms  of  matter 
with  the  highest  reaches  of  spirit  life,  then  the  simplest 
discovery  of  the  mineralogist  may  reveal  some  secret 
of  the  sun’s  constitution ;  the  most  homely  obliga¬ 
tions  of  every  day  disclose  the  action  of  a  law  felt 
by  the  angelic  hosts  of  heaven.  Every  prosaic  bit 
of  duty  may  thus  be  a  segment  of  the  eternal 
line  of  beauty,  along  which  the  life  of  God  sweeps 
in  rhythmic  order  through  the  infinitude  of  being. 

The  text  brings  before  us  a  simple,  practical  obli¬ 
gation,  in  realizing  the  full  significance  of  which  we 
follow  the  Apostle’s  upward  vision  into  the  high 


142 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON . 


relationships  of  which  it  is  the  partial  expression. 
“  Bear  ye  one  another’s  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the 
law  of  Christd 

Bearing  one  another’s  burdens, — sympathy  carried 
into  action,  feeling  together  becoming  acting  to¬ 
gether,  co-operation, — is  the  fufilment  of  the  law  of 
highest  life,  the  law  of  Christ.  There  is  no  written 
law  to  that  effect,  the  transcript  of  some  word  of 
command  given  by  Christ.  Rather  the  Apostle  saw 
in  helpful  association  that  which  was  the  true  realiz¬ 
ing  in  all  mutual  relationships  of  the  truth  person¬ 
ated  in  Christ,  of  the  spirit  breathing  through  Christ. 
“The  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus”  is  the  ultimate  truth 
of  every  sphere  of  living.  Christ  is  the  world’s 
interpreter.  The  sublime  vision  of  the  same  apos¬ 
tle  is  the  key  to  the  interpretation  of  creation:  “  In 
Him  all  things  consist,”  stand  together,  orderly 
group  themselves  into  a  perfect  unity.  St.  John 
saw  this  same  principal  truth, — “  in  the  beginning 
was  the  Word,”  the  perfect  expression  of  the  Divine 
Mind ;  One  in  whom  all  the  after  evolutions  of 
creation  stood  Evolved,  of  whom  they  must  there¬ 
fore  all  be  partial  expressions,  through  whom  their 
secret  laws  must  be  read  ;  the  first-born  of  every 
creature,  the  prototype  of  all  life,  as  St.  Paul  else¬ 
where  in  Platonic  phraseology  expressed  it. 


CHRISTS  LA  W  OF  CO-OP  ERA  TION. 


143 


I  understand  then,  the  Apostle  to  hint  the  truth 
that  this  duty  of  bearing  one  another’s  burdens  is 
the  application  in  social  relationships  of  the  law 
under  which  all  things  ‘  consist  ’  in  Christ, — helpful 
association,  and  so  through  the  narrow  lense  of 
this  every-day  duty  we  range  the  infinite  circuit  of 
an  universal  law. 

Following  this  hint  of  the  Apostle  we  are  to  look 
to  find  the  secret  of  social  science  shadowed  in  the 

realms  below,  revealed  in  the  perfect  man ;  one 
simple  law  binding  all  creation — “  the  law  of  the 
spirit  of  life  in  Jesus  Christ.” 

I.  Nature  testifies  all  through  her  domains  to  the 
presence  of  this  law  of  Christ.  The  Mosaic  account 
of  creation  is  of  an  order  emergent  from  chaos.  If 
the  picture  is  of  the  very  beginning  of  things,  then 
chaos  represents  the  primal,  structureless,  unorgan¬ 
ized  matter  out  of  which  was  developed  the  mani¬ 
fold  inter-relationships  which  constitute  the  beautiful 
order ;  separate  actions  being  evolved,  and  all  these 
bound  together  in  chemical  and  vital  co-operation. 
If  the  vision  be  that  of  the  beginning  of  our  present 
order,  then  chaos  represents  the  state  of  anarchy, 
into  which  previous  aeons  had  lapsed,  in  which  mat¬ 
ter  existed  in  all  the  essential  constituents  which 
now  bless  us  in  the  sunshine  and  the  dew,  the  soil 


144 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


and  the  air,  but  uncombined,  separate  and  isolate 
atom  from  atom,  inter-penetrated  by  no  forces 
of  association, — matter’s  shadowing  of  selfishness  ; 
within  which  the  overbrooding  of  the  spirit  of  God, 
quickened  life,  developed  reciprocal  relations,  as¬ 
sociated  activities  in  the  atomic  individualities,  and 
thus  the  new  earth  came  to  the  birth. 

Chaos  was  matter  with  no  inter-relationships,  no 
mutual  combinations.  Creation  was  matter  brought 
under  the  law  of  helpful  association,  acting  together 
in  physical,  chemical  and  vital  co-operations,  and 
thus  “  very  good.” 

A  true  symbol  this  poem-picture  of  the  earth’s 
development.  Science  deciphers  the  law  of  Christ 
in  terms  of  physics. 

Inanimate  nature  knows  no  independence,  no 
refusal  of  mutual  co-operation,  save  in  anarchy. 
Helpfully-associative  the  earth  atoms  shine  in  the 
jewel  or  mantle  the  mountain  majesty  with  the 
tenderness  of  the  lichen  and  the  grass ;  standing 
out  each  for  and  by  itself,  unhelpful,  unassociative, 
they  are  trampled  under  foot  in  the  slime  of  the 
roadside.  Every  further  vision  of  science  is  the 
revelation  of  more  marvelous  out-reachings,  more 
infinitely  delicate  actions  of  this  law  of  all  creation. 
No  unlikeness  of  material,  no  remove  of  space, 


CHRIST'S  LA  IV  OF  CO-OP  ERA  TION. 


H5 


isolates  oktc  part  of  nature  from  another  In  beau¬ 
tiful  harmony,  in  silent  peaceful  order,  cloud  and 
sea,  earth  and  air,  mountains  and  plains,  forests  and 
fields,  burning  deserts  and  frozen  tracts  of  either 
pole,  help  each  the  other’s  work  for  the  common  good, 
a  mysterious  inter-play  of  influences,  an  endless 
miracle  of  law.  The  infinitude  of  space  escapes  not 
the  omnipresence  of  this  law  which  makes  every 
outer-most  orb  in  the  sphered  heavens  conscious  of 
the  little  world  hid  under  the  light  shadow  of  its 
burning  sun  ;  the  waters  of  our  earth  rise  and  fall 
beneath  the  influences  no  subtlest  analysis  can  re¬ 
solve,  forth-flowing  from  the  distant  moon,  our  very 
height  depends  upon  the  number  and  distance  of 
stars  our  eyes  see  not,  no  telescope  discloses.  So 
infinitely  delicate  this  law,  that  the  drooping  form  of 
the  hare  bell  may  not  poise  itself  in  graceful  curve 
without  the  adjustment  of  the  mass  of  the  earth 
to  its  gravity. 

We  advance  in  creation.  What  do  we  mean  by 
“  life,”  but  the  unity  and  inter-action  wherein  and 
whereby,  the  members  of  the  organism  work  all  to¬ 
gether  in  mutual  sympathy,  mutual  purpose  ;  its 
manifold  activites  co-ordinated  in  the  law  of  help¬ 
fulness  to  a  common  end. 

An  organism  is  a  body  whose  separate  functions 


146 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


are  co-operative.  Life  is  associated  action.  Death 
is  the  return  to  the  separateness  and  isolation  of 
the  primal  chaos,  wherein  there  is  no  longer  respon¬ 
sive,  sympathetic  help  of  each  part  by  the  other* 
Again  there  are  only  these  two  states,  life  and  death, 
the  presence  and  the  absence  of  the  law  of  helpful 
association.  The  failure  of  this  law  over  any  mem¬ 
ber  or  function  of  the  organism  is  decomposition, 
the  setting  up  of  independent  action  in  the  body. 
The  ultimate  anarchy  of  the  grave,  in  all  its  horror 
of  decaying  flesh  and  rioting  worms  is  but  the  escape 
of  the  body  from  the  power  of  the  law  which  kept 
these  always  present  activities  in  healthful  subordi¬ 
nation  to  associated  action,  the  dech^ance  of  the 
regnant  life  and  the  mob  law  of  individual  action 
set  up  in  every  part  of  the  corpse. 

Purity  lies  in  association ;  impurity,  corruption, 
death,  in  each  member’s  acting  by  and  for  itself. 
Healthfulness  is  but  the  responsive  helpfulness  of 
every  function,  the  reverse  of  which  is  disease,  inter¬ 
ruption  of  the  mutual  helpfulness,  withdrawal  of 
some  action  needful  for  the  common  weal.  The 
circulating  medium  rushes  to  the  head  instead  of 
diffusing  itself  over  the  body,  and  there  is  apo¬ 
plexy.  A  local  life  is  set  up  in  some  point,  and 
this  independent  cell  taxes  the  trade  passing  through 


CHRISTS  LA  JV  OF  CO-OP  ERA  TION. 


147 

the  arteries  to  feed  itself,  and  the  cancer  grows  that 
finally  kills  the  corporate  life.  Roots  and  veins  and 
bark  and  leaves,  each  part  of  the  tree  helps  the 
others,  or  ceasing  to  help,  we  say  it  dies.  The  dead 
skin,  the  dead  bark,  are  but  parts  of  the  body  no 
longer  responsive  to  the  organic  law.  The  old  fable 
of  the  quarrel  in  the  body  is  the  true  story  of  life. 
It  is  under  the  law  of  Christ,  “  bear  ye  one  another’s 
burdens.”  Life  is  co-operation  of  the  organic  forces, 
association  in  helpfulness,  a  working  together  of 
the  functions  which  divides  the  burdens  and  shares 
the  benefits — the  reciprocal  relations  of  a  common 
wealth. 

The  scale  of  life  is  to  be  admeasured  by  the  sway 
of  this  law  of  co-operation.  It  is  weakest  in  the 
lowest  forms  of  life;  it  becomes  more  dominent  as 
life  ascends  in  dignity.  The  struggle  for  existence 
may  be  the  law  which  first  masters  chaos  into  the 
rudiments  of  order  and  makes  possible  the  survival 
of  the  fittest.  But  it  is  everywhere  ranked  by  the  law 
of  helpful  association  as  life  foreshadows  human 
nobleness.  The  ant-hill  and  the  bee-hive  are  animal 
co-operative  societies,  lesser  Brook  Farms  and  New 
Lebanons.  The  full  life  interprets  all  the  lower 
forms. 

Jesus  Christ  explains  nature  as  the  flower  ex- 


148 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


presses  the  secret  of  the  roots  and  leaves.  There  is 
a  unity  of  law  through  the  whole  development  of 
life.  It  is  all  under  the  law  of  Christ,  “  bear  ye  one 
another’s  burdens.” 

II.  Rising  another  step,  we  behold  the  larger  sweep 
of  this  same  law  through  the  complex  workings  of 
the  social  mechanism.  What  do  we  mean  by  society 
but  the  orderly  co-hesion  of  individuals,  the  bring¬ 
ing  of  separate  aims  and  interests,  wills  and  habits 
under  relationships  of  common  welfare.  Barbarism 
is  the  state  wherein  each  man  is  by  and  for  himself ; 
or,  since  there  must  be  some  relationships  to  preserve 
and  perpetuate  existence,  the  state  wherein  each 
family  or  clan  or  tribe  stands  apart  in  isolation  from 
all  others.  The  slow  work  of  creating  society  is  the 
constituting  and  organizing  of  inter-relationships, 
the  making  of  one  family  to  have  a  common  concern 
with  another  in  the  maintenance  of  order,  of  one 
industry  to  supplement  another;  is  the  calling  forth 
of  functions,  the  peculiar  power  of  organic  life,  and 
the  assigning  to  each  a  special  task  for  the  common 
weal.  In  savage  life,  each  man  is  farmer  and  shep¬ 
herd  and  fisher  and  hunter  and  soldier  for  himself. 
In  society  each  of  these  functions  is  discharged  by 
a  class.  The  development  of  society  being,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  canon  of  evolution,  a  process  whereby  a 


CHRIST’S  LA  W  OF  C 0-0 PE R A  TION. 


I49 


simple  state  becomes  ever-increasingly  complex,  the 
inter-relations  of  modern  society  are  becoming  more 
involved  than  ever  heretofore.  Independence  is  an 
impossibility  excepting  in  the  hermit’s  hut  amidst 
the  mountain  woods.  The  newspaper  laid  each 
morning  on  your  breakfast  table  might  be  a  daily 
sermon  upon  this  text,  if  you  would  pause  to  think 
of  the  vast  combinations  of  activities  of  men,  wo¬ 
men  and  children,  in  city  and  country,  in  study  and 
field  and  mine  and  ship,  by  which  alone  that  sheet 
is  placed  before  you.  Increasingly  still  this  multi¬ 
plication  of  inter-relationships  must  go  on,  between 
individuals  and  classes  and  nations.  The  ideal  so¬ 
ciety  has  found  no  better  symbol  than  that  form  of 
free  order  which  the  genius  of  Greece  bequeathed, 
which  the  poetry  of  revelation  seized,  wherewith  to 
type  the  oncoming  perfect  social  state,  through 
which  we  see  the  Beautiful  City  coming  down  from 
God  out  of  heaven  upon  earth.  The  Utopia  for 
which  good  men  long,  dreamers  sigh,  mad-men  fight 
over  fired  palaces  and  barricaded  streets,  will  come 
in  upon  the  earth  as  the  members  of  the  univer¬ 
sal  body  politic  are  drawn  out  of  their  local,  individ¬ 
ual  and  selfish  activities  of  rivalry  into  a  common¬ 
wealth  ;  as  sympathy  of  feeling  is  taught  by  the 
heart  and  identity  of  interests  is  discerned  by  the 


R.  HEBER  NE  WTON. 


150 

head,  and  individuals,  classes  and  nations  combine  in 
associative  helpfulness,  to  realize  a  true  community. 

General  language  of  this  sort  may  pass  unchal¬ 
lenged,  but  its  translation  into  the  vernacular  of  the 
street  and  the  exchange  will  betray  at  once  how  far 
indeed  the  world  is  from  owning  this  law  of  Christ. 
Eighteen  centuries  have  not  taught  men  the  signifi¬ 
cance  and  application  of  this  truth  in  Jesus.  Only 
of  late  have  our  eyes  been  opening  to  see  that,  after 
all  our  theorizings  and  experimentings,  the  secret  of 
social  science  was  of  old  given  to  those  who  had 
ears  to  hear,  in  the  life  and  words  of  Christ  ;  that 
indeed  there  are  not  two  Gods,  one  giving  law  to 
the  church,  the  other  to  the  world  ;  one  ordaining  the 
golden  rule,  the  other  setting  up  the  brazen  rule ; 
one  bidding  men  be  brotherly,  the  other  sanctioning 
selfishness  under  any  of  its  decent  disguises  as  the 
condition  of  success ;  but  that  over  all  life  stands 
this  universal  law  of  the  One  Living  God,  the  or- 
dainer  of  nature’s  system,  the  orderer  of  human 
society  ;  the  law  revealed  fully  in  Him  who  is  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh — “  Bear  ye  one  another’s  bur¬ 
dens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ.”  Here  we 
are  still  trying  to  perfect  our  civilization  in  the  de¬ 
fiance  of  that  law,  our  systems  of  so  called  social 
science,  until  lately  framing  themselves  on  the  idea 


CHRISTS  LA  W  OF  CO-OP  ERA  TION. 


151 

of  competition,  i.  e.  selfish  strife,  and  our  business 
world  working  on  this  as  the  alone  law  of  industrial 
success.  I  need  not  tell  you,  men  of  business,  how 
truly  this  is  the  accepted  belief  of  the  world  of 
trade.  It  is  a  huge  struggle,  at  times  a  wild  and 
fearful  struggle,  in  which  Ishmael-like  every  man’s 
hand  is  against  his  brother.  It  is  the  strife  for  ex¬ 
istence  transferred  from  the  lower  spheres  to  the 
realm  of  human  life  ;  each  man  vying  with  his  neigh¬ 
bor,  out-advertizing,  under-selling,  getting  before 
him  in  one  way  or  another ;  each  man  competing 
for  the  public  favor  at  the  expense  of  some  other 
man.  You  may  blind  your  eyes  to  the  fact,  but 
that  fact  is  under  all  your  daily  tradings,  the  basic 
belief  of  business,  that  trade  is  a  strife,  a  struggle 
between  capital  and  labor,  brains  and  brawn,  buyer 
and  seller,  in  which  one  makes  and  another  loses, 
the  loss  of  one  constituting  the  gain  of  the  other. 
So  it  really  is,  as  you  do  business,  one  mounting  on 
another’s  fall,  one  filling  his  pockets  out  of  another’s 
emptyings.  The  sign  in  which  you  triumph  is  Libra, 
an  ever  see-sawing  balancing  of  gain  and  loss,  in 
which  every  man’s  endeavor  is  to  keep  the  scale  well 
down  at  his  end,  regardless  of  who  kicks  the  beam 
at  the  other  end.  “  Every  one  for  himself  and 
the  devil  take  the  hindmost,”  is  the  rule  by  which 


152 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


we  run  the  race  we  set  before  us,  and  so  fulfil  the 
law — not  exactly  of  Christ.  The  happy  result  of 
our  “  practical  ”  wisdom  is  that  God’s  school  of 
character  has  become  the  devil’s  house  of  debauchery, 
where,  day  by  day,  virtue  is  seduced  and  conscience 
prostituted  that  bread  may  be  won. 

Between  classes  this  anarchic  confusion  is  ac¬ 
cepted  as  the  normal  order  of  things.  The  exist¬ 
ing  relations  of  Capital  and  Labor  present  largely 
the  very  opposite  of  any  helpful  association,  an  un¬ 
disguised  hurtful  antagonism.  Political  economists 
have  taught  the  world  that  the  interests  of  Capital 
and  Labor  are  necessarily  adverse ;  Capital’s  inter¬ 
est  being  to  keep  wages  as  low  as  possible,  Labor’s 
being  to  force  them  up  as  high  as  could  be  attained  ; 
profits  representing  a  sliding  scale  which  inclines 
towards  the  employer  as  labor  is  cheapened,  to  the 
employee  as  capital  is  driven  back  along  the  line  of 
gain  ;  the  normal  level  being  preserved  by  this  bal¬ 
ancing  of  interests.  Capital  has  naturally  not  been 
slow  in  practising  this  covenient  belief.  Employers 
have  fallen  back  upon  the  axiom  of  business — we  are 
not  expected  to  pay  more  than  we  must.  To 
keep  the  market  price  of  labor  low  has  been  unblush- 
ingly  avowed  as  the  aim  of  Capital,  even  though 
.that  low  price  of  labor  meant,  as  it  always  must 


CHRISTS  LA  W  OF  CO-OFF R A  TION . 


153 


mean,  low  life  in  every  respect,  low  health  from  poor 
and  insufficient  food,  low  intelligence,  low  morale.  In 
poor  times  employers  would  close  mills  and  turn 
their  vassels  out  to  care  for  themselves,  more  merci¬ 
less  in  this,  as  owning  no  bond  but  contract  between 
master  and  servant,  than  the  slave-owner  of  yore. 
Labor  has  been  no  slower  in  learning  from  this  “  tyr- 
any  of  capital  ”  its  relation  to  the  power  employing  it. 
It  has  had  no  interest  in  the  master’s  work  beyond  the 
contract.  That  work  was  therefore  to  be  done  un¬ 
interestedly,  i.  e.  badly.  A  union  of  Labor’s  forces 
must  be  made  to  raise  wages,  or  prevent  reductions. 
Trade  Unions  grew  up,  combining  employees  into  a 
vast  host,  hostile  to  the  employing  class.  Strikes 
became  the  recognized  tactics  of  Labor,  answered 
back  by  Capital  with  lock-outs.  A  so  called  Christian 
civilization  has  thus  found  the  normal  order  of 
society  a  strife  of  force  under  the  inspiration  of 
selfishness.  As  Capital  has  been  the  stronger  party 
heretofore,  such  human  and  Christian  results  as  these 
are  seen  :  In  England  a  vast  stratum  of  pauperism 
growing  below  the  fair  surface  in  direct  ratio  to  the 
increase  of  wealth  and  culture  above;  in  France, 
Labor  in  deadly  antagonism  towards  the  upper  classes, 
a  slumberous  volcano  just  now  but  within  half  a 
decade  having  belched  forth  the  hell-flames  of  “  the 


154 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


Commune ;  ”  in  our  own  land,  a  feud  intensifying 
year  by  year,  embittering  employers,  degrading 
laborers,  disordering  all  industries  and  trades, 
frightening  away  Capital,  and  thus  impoverishing 
labor,  with  the  usual  results  in  the  latter  class,  the 
thrusting  down  into  the  nether-most  abysses  of 
pauperism,  vice  and  crime  of  an  ever-growing  host. 
The  past  summer  has  witnessed  an  actual  war  of 
such  magnitude  and  such  portentous  significance, 
that  even  the  blindest  eyes  should  at  last  open  to 
discern  the  explosive  forces  of  discontent  underly¬ 
ing  our  social  structure.  This  alarming  outburst 
should  astonish  no  one  who  has  watched  the 
tendencies  of  our  business  world.  It  was  simply 
the  logical  outcome,  in  one  direction,  of  the  doctrines 
of  political  economy  preached  and  practised  in  our 
Christian  land,  the  avowal  of  war  frankly  put  into 
a  somewhat  rough  form. 

And  if  thus  it  has  been  as  to  individual  and  class 
relations,  it  cannot  be  expected  to  have  proven 
otherwise  of  inter-national  relations.  These  too,  have 
rested  upon  undisguised  hostility,  each  nation  look¬ 
ing  upon  its  neighbor  with  the  eye  of  a  rival,  in  its 
skill  and  treasure  so  much  adverse  power  being  seen. 
The  mutual  attitude  is  suspicion,  the  mutual  effort 
to  draw  territory  or  trade  from  one  another,  to 


CHRISTS  LA  W  OF  CO-OPERA  TION. 


155 


weaken  and  cripple  each  the  other.  The  hostility 
which  is  masked  between  individuals  and  classes  is 
openly  acknowledged  between  nations,  and  the 
Christian  world  to-day  is  busy  waging  war  or  making 
ready  for  it. 

In  every  sphere  the  norm  of  society  would  appear, 
from  our  accepted  theories  and  our  actual  practice, 
to  be  chaos,  anarchic  atoms  repelling  each  other 
and  thus  preventing  combination  in  stable  forms ; 
no  beautiful  order  emergent  from  the  strife  of  inter¬ 
ests,  no  dawn  as  yet  of  those  good  times  for  which 
the  weary  world  has  vainly  waited  through  the  ages. 

The  inter-relationships  of  society  becoming  ever 
more  delicate,  if  their  action  is  always  to  be  friction, 
the  strain  upon  the  social  mechanism  must  grow 
too  severe  to  be  endured.  The  law  of  competition, 
drawing  its  vitality  from  selfishness,  arraying  man 
against  man,  class  against  class,  nation  against  nation, 
can,  of  itself,  only  evolve  anarchy,  decomposition, 
dissolution,  death.  If  the  forces  of  society  are  those 
of  repulsion,  the  end  is  plain.  That  was  a  terrible 
saying  of  Frederick  Harrison,  in  reviewingthe  causes 
leading  to  the  Communal  war  : — -“The  people  of  Paris 
believe  not  in  any  God  nor  in  any  man.  But  they 
have  a  religion  of  their  own  for  which  they  are  ready 
to  die.  That  religion  is  the  faith  that  Capital  and  its 


156 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


holders  must  adapt  themselves  to  nobler  uses,  or  they 
had  better  cease  to  exist.”  That  is  the  conclusion 
“the  masses”  are  learning  to  draw  from  the  practical 
workings  of  our  theories  of  the  relations  of  Capital 
and  Labor. 

Of  course  there  is  a  certain  truth  underlying  our 
ordinary  notions.  Competition  is  a  principle  of  abso¬ 
lute  necessity  in  social  development.  It  has  wrought 
immense  advantages  for  mankind.  But  it  must  be 
ranked  by  a  higher  law  to  keep  its  forces  from 
tearing  the  social  mechanism  in  pieces.  I 
hail  it  as  the  one  hopeful  sign  that  in  all 
lands  and  amongst  all  classes,  men  are  being 
drawn  to  perceive  that  the  deepest  secret  of  so¬ 
ciety  lies  not  in  strife  but  in  peaceful  union,  not 
in  the  selfish  seeking  of  individual  interests,  but  in 
the  brotherly  working  together  for  mutual  welfare, 
not  in  hurtful  antagonism,  but  in  helpful  association, 
not  in  competition,  but  in  co-operation  ;  that  men 
are  learning  that  each  man’s  true  interests  are  in 
each  other’s  best  interests,  the  lasting  success  of  one 
bound  up  with  the  promotion  of  his  fellow’s  good  ; 
man  with  man,  class  with  class,  nation  with  nation, 
rising  or  falling  together,  private  wealth  secure  only 
in  a  common-wealth.  This  is  not  sentiment.  It  is 
the  soundest,  simplest  philosophy,  which,  thank  God, 


CHRISTS  LA  W  OF  CO- OR  FRA  TION. 


15  7 


is  beginning  to  be  preached  from  chairs  of  political 
economy  and  from  the  press  as  well  as  from  the  pulpit. 

Our  workingmen  are  discerning  that  arbitration  is 
more  profitable  than  strikes,  our  capitalists  perceiv¬ 
ing  that  co-operation  in  some  form  pays  better  in 
the  long  run  than  mere  hired  labor.  Labor  is  be¬ 
coming  willing  to  bear  the  burden  of  Capital's  loss 
in  dull  times  and  put  up  with  lowered  wages  or  half 
work.  Capital  is  becoming  willing  to  bear  the  bur¬ 
den  of  Labor’s  necessities  in  hard  times  and  keep  the 
work  going  to  give  support  to  the  workingmen. 

Our  statesmen  are  learning  sounder  theories  of 
international  relations  than  those  which  found  the 
wealth  of  one  people  in  the  poverty  of  another,  a 
better  arbiter  of  differences  than  war. 

And  it  is  all  but  reading  “  the  law  of  Christ,” 
“  bear  ye  one  another’s  burdens,”  the  law  of  helpful 
association. 

Yes  truly  “  the  law  of  Christ,”  the  law  of  His 
whole  life,  of  all  His  revelation  of  the  Father,  of  all 
H  is  example  to  man.  That  whole  life  was  the  in¬ 
carnation  of  this  spirit.  It  was  the  living  amongst 
us  of  One  who  knew  no  self-interest,  had  no  self¬ 
thought,  but  found  His  joy  in  the  good  of  others; 
a  Divine  living  commentary  on  the  law  of  brotherly 
helpfulness.  “  I  am  among  you  as  one  that 


i58 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


serveth,” — there  is  the  dignity  of  Christ.  “  The 
Son  of  Man  is  come  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but 
to  minister,” — there  is  the  vocation  of  Christ. 
“  Whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the 
gospel’s  he  shall  find  it,” — there  is  the  economy  of 
Christ.  “  My  joy,  therefore,  is  fulfilled,” — there, 
all  stained  with  the  blood  sweat  of  Gethesemane’s 
bearing  of  a  world’s  burdens,  rises  the  blessed¬ 
ness  of  *Christ.  Jesus  Christ  !  what  was  He,  is  He 
still,  but  as  we  call  Him  in  sacredest  moments 
“  the  Savior.”  And  what  is  that  salvation  but  this 
law,  “  bear  ye  one  another’s  burdens,”  operative  even 
over  Him  who  to  help  us  into  life  “Himself  took  our 
infirmities  and  bare  our  sicknesses,”  bearing  our  sins 
in  His  own  body  on  the  tree  ;  ”  the  law  of  salvation, 
“  Vicariousness,” — only  another  and  less  familiar 
term  for  the  good  old  home-word  of  our  mother 
Saxon,  helpfulness  ; — Christ’s  stooping  beneath  the 
burdens  of  earth’s  woes,  sharing  the  sorrows  of 
earth’s  sin  to  help  us  back  and  up  to  God  ;  and  so 
our  bearing  one  another’s  burdens,  and  thus  fulfilling, 
carrying  out  into  full  realization,  the  law  of  Christ, 
in  a  Church  where  all  men  own  the  bond  of  brother¬ 
hood,  the  germ-cell  of  the  redeemed  humanity, 
wherein  individuals  and  classes  and  nations  are  to 
be  co-ordinated  in  friendly  ranks  of  helpful  associa- 


CHRIST'S  LA  W  OF  CO-OP  ERA  TION. 


lS9 


tion  ;  and  wherein  there  shall  come  to  pass  the  vision 
once  seen  for  a  moment  in  the  days  of  the  first  fresh 
life  of  Christian  brotherliness,  its  spirit  though  in 
sounder  form,  when  “  all  that  believed  were  together 
and  had  all  things  common  ;  and  sold  their  posses¬ 
sions  and  goods  and  parted  them  to  all  as  any  one 
had  need.” 

And  so  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ  is  the 
Trinity,  the  perfect  inter-relationship  of  the  fulness 
of  life,  wherein  God  comes  forth  to  help  man,  and 
whereunto  now  ascendeth  from  the  angelic  choirs 
above,  and  soon  from  the  human  antephon  below 
there  shall  respond  the  everlasting  worship,  “  Holy, 
holy,  holy  Lord,  God  of  hosts,”  the  ordered  ranks 
of  life  in  heaven  above  and  in  the  earth  beneath. 

III.  Let  us  not  leave  this  high  thought  without  de¬ 
ducing  from  the  general  law  some  practical  bits  of 
every  day  duty. 

Let  me  say  to  you,  my  friends,  who  are  in  business, 
your  Christian  vows  call  upon  you  to  try  whether 
you  cannot  carry  on  your  daily  avocations  on  some 
higher  plane  than  that  of  the  selfish  strife  whose  din 
is  in  your  ears  at  every  turn.  Your  Christian  calling 
is  scarcely  to  crowd  off  the  great  burden  of  bread¬ 
winning  from  your  own  shoulders  upon  those  of 
some  weaker  brained  or  weaker  bodied  brother,  rival 


i6o 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


tradesman  or  poor  employee,  under-selling  the  one 
and  beating  down  the  wages  of  the  other.  As  a 
pagan  you  might  perhaps  own  the  world’s  maxim,  — 
“  shove  ye  off  every  man  his  burden  on  one  another.” 
As  a  Christian,  your  law  is  “  bear  ye  one  another’s 
burdens,”  brains  helping  brawn,  wealth  helping  pov¬ 
erty  out  from  under  the  crushing  load  of  want. 
If  you  are  a  sincere  Christian  you  must  try  to  con¬ 
duct  your  business  by  this  law  of  Christ,  not  making 
all  you  can  for  yourself  and  growing  rich  while  you 
leave  those  by  whose  labor  you  mount  to  comfort 
and  ease,  to  struggle  on  under  the  burden  of  poverty. 
The  Christian  rise  is  that  which  draws  up  Labor  after 
Capital  to  higher  planes  of  living.  To  grow  rich 
honestly  is  a  good  pagan  commendation ;  to  grow 
rich  in  a  brotherly  fellowship  of  gain  with  all  who 
work  below  you,  this  and  this  alone  is  a  Christian 
success.  Is  this  quixotic  talk?  Well,  friends,  it  is 
only  what  each  one  learned  long  ago  concerning  “  my 
duty  towards  my  neighbor.”  In  the  confirmation 
by  your  own  will  of  the  life  laws  declared  in  baptism, 
you  professed  to  believe  that  “  my  duty  towards  my 
neighbor  is  to  love  him  as  myself,  and  to  do  unto  all 
men  as  I  would  they  should  do  unto  me.”  In  your 
nearest  neighborhood  you  are  bounden  to  live  in 
this  helpful  association,  this  sharing  of  your  other 


CHRISTS  LAW  OF  CO-OPERATION.  l6l 

self ’s  burdens.  You  will  find  no  nearer  neighbors 
than  “  the  hands  ”  who  outwork  the  enterprises  the 
headship  of  your  capital  feeds  and  directs.  A  rush 
of  the  golden  stream  to  the  head,  to  capital,  leaves 
these  “  hands  ”  thinly  blooded.  The  apoplexy  we 
have  seen  in  society  the  last  few  years,  the  bursting 
of  so  many  capitalists  might  warn  you  that  like  all 
the  other  laws  of  God,  this  law  of  Christ  cannot  be 
safely  disregarded. 

No  organism  is  in  healthful  growth  that  does  not 
build  up  in  due  ratio  of  increase  the  whole  body. 
No  business  is  sound  that  does  not  cause  the 
“  hands  ”  to  share  in  the  increase  of  the  head.  If 
our  rail-roads  had  treated  their  employees  as  some¬ 
thing  more  than  hands  hired  for  so  many  hours  work 
a  day,  had  interested  them  in  the  gains  of  their 
company,  to  however  small  an  extent,  had  provided 
for  their  support  in  case  of  the  accidents  to  which 
they  are  liable,  and  for  the  support  of  their  families 
in  the  event  of  their  death  therefrom,  binding  them 
in  interest  and  loyalty  to  the  road,  instead  of  leav¬ 
ing  them  to  bind  themselves  together  in  mutual 
support  against  the  road,  would  they  have  incurred 
such  losses  and  run  such  risks  as  this  summer 
brought  upon  them  ? 

Do  you  say  in  what  way  am  I  to  fulfil  this  law  of 


1 62  •  R-  HEBER  NEWTON. 

Christ  and  bear  the  burdens  of  those  others  who  are 
bound  up  with  me  in  a  common  labor?  It  is  not 
for  me  to  detail  schemes.  That  is  the  province  of 
the  political  economist.  It  is  mine  as  an  interpreter 
of  the  higher  laws  of  life  to  indicate  principles. 
This  principle  is  CO-OPERATION.  It  is  no  dream  of 
the  sentimentalist,  for  hard  headed  political  econo¬ 
mists,  one  and  all,  are  uniting  in  the  declaration 
that  it  is  the  alone  key  to  the  problem  of  the  rela¬ 
tion  of  Capital  and  Labor.  It  is  no  book  theorem, 
for  it  is  in  actual  operation  in  multitudes  of  forms 
in  our  land  and  in  other  lands,  in  the  spheres  of 
production  and  distribution,  in  manufactures  and  in 
trades.  Under  all  the  various  forms  assumed,  one 
principle  is  the  life  force  of  these  reconstructed 
businesses.  PARTNERSHIP.  That  is  to  say  fellow¬ 
ship  of  the  members  of  the  body,  in  which  all  the 
members  gain  in  the  wealth  of  the  head,  and  share 
its  losses.  It  may  be  only  by  a  certain  percentage 
of  profit  accruing  to  the  workmen  over  and  above 
his  wages,  or  it  may  be  by  the  employees  being  taken 
representatively  into  the  councils  as  into  the  gains 
of  the  employer.  In  whatever  form,  the  principle 
is  that  of  identifying  the  interests  of  the  employees 
with  those  of  the  employer,  the  effects  of  which, 
wherever  fairly  tried,  are  harmony  between  Capita 


CHRIST'S  LA  W  OF  CO-OPERA  TION.  163 

and  Labor,  elevation  of  the  laborer,  sounder  if 
slower  wealth  to  the  capitalist. 

Few  sights  in  this  hard  world  are  more  beautiful 
than  the  almost  paternal  relationship  some  noble  men 
have  really  instituted  towards  their  industrial  vas¬ 
sals,  as  through  the  fellowship  created  by  the  out¬ 
working  of  this  principle  these  Christian  heads  have 
been  enabled  to  lift  their  hands  to  higher  manhood 
and  womanhood.  I  am  more  and  more  persuaded 
that  the  only  way  to  uplift  the  poor  is  through 
natural  relationships,  the  Divine  ordinations  for 
associating  intelligence  and  ignorance,  wealth  and 
want ;  the  bonds  of  business  wherein  it  is  given  to 
power  of  brain  and  purse  to  exercise  a  mastership 
which  can  realize  Carlyle’s  Captaincy  of  Industry, 
and  organize  labor  so  as  to  make  work  what  God 
meant  it  to  be,  the  school  of  character.  But  the 
absolute  condition  of  that  mastership  is  the  trust 
and  loyalty  which  rise  alone  towards  him  who  seeks 
to  fulfil  that  duty  to  his  neighbor  which  the  neigh¬ 
bor  at  least  never  fails  to  discern. 

The  absence  of  this  spirit  in  our  money-mad  age 
is  eating  out  human  brotherhood  in  the  core  of  all 
social  relations,  business ;  its  restoration  will  begin 
to  build  the  better  order.  Will  you,  my  friends,  in 
your  own  business  relations  try  to  put  into  opera- 


164 


R.  HEBER  NEWTON. 


tion  this  principle  of  bearing  one  another’s  burdens, 
and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ? 

All  of  us  in  whatsoever  spheres  of  life  our  days 
round  their  appropriate  cycle  may  find  room  to  out¬ 
work  this  law  of  Christ. 

Those  of  you,  my  friends,  to  whom  God  has  given 
of  His  treasures,  the  gold  and  the  silver  which  are  His, 
need  ever  to  bear  in  mind  this  Christly  law  of  life. 
There  are  thousands  in  this  very  city  who  go  through 
life  oppressively,  staggering  under  burdens  of  which 
you  know  perhaps  only  through  the  novels  you  read, 
lolling  upon  your  comfortable  lounges.  There  are 
Christian  works  crushing  those  who  are  bravely  sus¬ 
taining  them.  O  what  burdens  ye  could  ease 
without  shouldering  any  oppressive  weight  your¬ 
selves  ;  loads  of  care  and  anxiety,  of  want  and  suf¬ 
fering,  of  sickness  and  infirmity,  of  responsibility 
and  labor !  What  lightened  hearts  and  freed  lives 
ye  could  call  in  blessing  round  you,  would  you  with 
a  little  personal  thought,  a  little  active  sympathy, 
bear  one  another’s  burdens!  Nor  need  we  wait 
for  wealth  or  leisure  to  follow  the  Master  in  this 
burden-bearing.  Few  are  there  with  whom  we 
meet  day  by  day,  who  may  not  be  eased  of  some 
burden  if  only  our  eyes  were  quick  to  read  the  faces 
of  our  brothers,  and  our  hearts  quick  to  radiate  that 


CHRIST'S  LA  W  OF  CO-OP  ERA  TION.  ^5 

blessed  smile  of  love  which  strengthens  in  its  warmth. 
And  helped  too,  without  officious  intrusion  or  loqua¬ 
cious  consolation,  by  the  pressure  of  the  hand  or  the 
gentleness  of  the  voice,  the  felt  sympathy  of  soul  with 
soul,  the  bearing  on  another’s  heart  and  mind  in  love 
and  thought  of  the  burden,  be  it  what  it  may.  Love 
lightens  by  sharing.  When  we  feel  another  lifting 
the  other  end  of  our  burden  in  gentle  sympathy,  the 
shoulders  are  eased,  if  only  for  the  moment,  and 
can  brace  themselves  to  the  load  again  more  bravely. 
Only  for  all  this  we  must  daily  breathe  the  prayer 
of  that  sweet  hymn  of  Mrs.  Waring: 

“  I  ask  Thee  for  a  thoughtful  love, 

Through  constant  watching  wise, 

To  meet  the  glad  with  joyful  smiles 
And  to  wipe  the  weeping  eyes  ; 

And  a  heart  at  leisure  from  itself 
To  soothe  and  sympathize. 

“The  law  of  Christ,” — so  with  all  its  imperative¬ 
ness,  a  duty  not  a  choice,  a  blessed  obligation  you 
may  evade  but  cannot  annul,  the  necessity  of  all 
life  in  Christ,  I  leave  this  command,  “  bear  ye  one 
anothers  burdens.” 

“  If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is 


none  of  His.” 


/ 


THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST  THE  PROOF  OF  HIS 
DIVINE  REVELATION. 


Rev.  EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN,  DD. 

Text: — “That  which  was  from  the  beginning, 

WHICH  WE  HAVE  HEARD,  WHICH  WE  HAVE  SEEN  WITH 
OUR  EYES,  HAVE  LOOKED  ON,  AND  OUR  HANDS  HAVE  HAN¬ 
DLED  of  the  Word  of  Life,  declare  we  unto  you.” — 
I  Ep.  John,  I,  i. 

What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?  is  the  question  which 
the  restless  mind  of  our  time  still  asks,  as  it  did 
at  the  first  coming  of  the  Saviour.  We  answer  it 
with  the  word  of  his  apostle.  As  we  read  again 
this  confession  of  faith,  it  takes  us  back  to  the 
earliest  Christian  day,  when  the  religion  of  the  Son 
of  God  was  not  an  abstract  opinion,  but  a  heartfelt 
reality.  It  was  in  reply  to  the  errorists  just  appear¬ 
ing  at  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age,  who  denied  the 
manhood  of  Jesus,  on  the  ground  that  a  divine 
person  could  not  suffer  on  the  cross,  that  St.  John 
defends  the  Gospel ;  he  gives  them  no  metaphysical 
arguments;  he  points  to  Him  who  had  walked  on 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


1 66 

earth,  whose  truth  they  had  heard  from  His  own 
lips,  and  whose  sinless  grace  they  had  seen  with  their 
own  eyes. 

I  take  these  words  as  the  best  opening  of  my  sub¬ 
ject.  The  personal  life  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  great 
evidence  of  His  divine  revelation  It  is  to  show  the 
bearing  of  this  view,  alike  on  the  belief  and  unbelief 
of  our  time  I  propose.  If  Christianity  be  a  reality 
for  us,  it  must  have  a  positive  truth  amidst  the 
changes  of  opinion.  It  may  have  many  questions 
of  critical  science,  which  lie  open  to  our  growing 
knowledge,  but  it  is  not  in  itself  a  speculative  sys¬ 
tem.  It  rests  on  a  fact  of  human  history.  The  life 
of  Him  whom  the  faith  of  eighteen  centuries  has 
worshipped  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour, 
whom  even  the  unbelief,  that  denies  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  reveres  as  the  most  wonderful  of  all  who  have 
won  humanity,  this  is  its  foundation.  This  is  its 
abiding  power.  It  is  this  which  now  speaks  to  the 
mind  and  heart  of  mankind,  as  when  He  dwelt  on 
the  earth  ;  and  it  is  only  as  we  have  learned  this 
fact  in  its  full  meaning  that  our  creed  is  reality. 

But  I  have  a  further  purpose.  I  believe  that  here 
is  to  be  found  the  true  method  of  defence  against 
the  error  of  our  own  time.  I  shall  hereafter  dwell 
more  fully  on  its  theories,  but  I  wish  only  at  the 


CHRIST  ;  HIS  DIVINE  REVELATION. 


1 67 


outset  to  show  its  ground.  It  must  be  clear  to  any, 
who  has  studied  the  tone  of  modern  thought,  that 
we  have  no  longer  to  deal  with  the  old  questions 
of  theology,  with  abstract  reasonings  of  the  nature 
of  Christ,  of  substance  and  will,  but  with  a  far 
more  searching  criticism,  which  doubts  not  only 
His  divinity,  but  the  fact  of  any  divine  revela¬ 
tion  at  all.  There  is  one  principle  at  the  root 
of  this  unbelief  in  whatever  form  it  appears.  It 
claims  to  set  aside  all  supernatural  religion,  as  at 
war  with  the  laws  which  science  has  fixed  in  nature 
and  human  history.  Christianity  in  its  eyes  is  only 
one  among  the  outgrowths  of  the  past,  which  has 
indeed  much  of  pure  moral  teaching,  but  is  in  its 
historic  character  a  legend  only.  And  thus  its  chief 
study  has  been  directed  toward  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ.  We  are  to  place  Him  beside  the  noblest 
names  of  history,  a  Confucius,  a  Sakya-muni ;  nay, 
above  them  in  some  features  of  His  life  ;  but  that 
life  has  no  more  for  us  than  this  passing  interest, 
and  must  fade  away  in  the  larger  religion  of  hu¬ 
manity.  Such  is  the  ground  of  ,our  latest  critics. 
It  is  here  I  wish  to  meet  it.  To  many  this  assault 
on  the  very  citadel  of  Christianity  seems  to  forebode 
its  ruin.  But  I  hold  the  very  opposite.  If  such  be 
the  position  of  modern  unbelief,  we  should  know 


1 68  '  EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 

that  it  cannot  be  fully  answered  by  our  old  theologi¬ 
cal  definitions.  We  have  too  often  injured  the  cause 
of  Christian  truth  by  identifying  it  with  past  sys¬ 
tems  ;  and  made  it  to  many  minds  an  unreal  re¬ 
ligion  for  the  need  of  to-day.  We  must  confront 
the  error  with  the  living  truth  of  history.  We  must 
show  that  the  Gospel  is  not  one  of  the  transient 
faiths  of  the  past,  but  supplies  the  wants  of  the  race. 
It  is  in  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  we  are  to  find  that 
evidence.  I  offer  here  no  new  idea,  rather  I  may 
gladly  say  the  leading  thought  of  our  most  earnest 
thinkers,  and  my  only  claim  is  to  present  it  as  it 
meets  directly  the  issue  between  belief  and  unbe¬ 
lief.  If  I  can  so  urge  it,  I  trust  that  I  may  reach 
the  mind  and  heart  of  some  who  are  asking  sin¬ 
cerely  for  a  positive  truth  amidst  the  strifes  of  the 
time. 

Let  us,  then,  open  the  Gospels  with  one  plain 
purpose.  Let  us  put  ourselves  back,  so  far  as  we 
can,  into  the  very  time  when  there  were  no  written 
lives  of  our  Lord,  when  Christianity  was  no  religion, 
known  only  as  it  has  come  down  to  us  through 
ages  of  theological  strife,  and  look  upon  this  won¬ 
derful  Person  as  they  did  who  saw  him  begin  to 
teach  and  heal  in  Judea.  We  have  still  that 
short  historic  record:  “  And  Joseph  went  up  from 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  REVELATION 


169 


Galilee  out  of  Nazareth  into  Judea,  to  be  taxed  with 
Mary,  his  espoused  wife.  And  she  brought  forth 
her  first-born  son.”  Amidst  the  imperial  annals  of 
Rome,  that  birth  in  a  small  corner  of  the  East 
is  utterly  unknown,  yet  on  it  hangs  the  welfare  of 
the  world.  This  life  reaches  only  three  and  thirty 
years,  and  of  these  thirty  are  in  the  lowly  household 
of  Nazareth.  We  see  him  come  forth  in  manhood 
as  a  teacher  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  own  home  ; 
he  gathers  a  few  followers  like  himself,  without 
wealth  or  social  rank,  and  preaches  the  kingdom  of 
God  ;  his  glad  tidings  of  a  divine  grace,  his  holy  life, 
his  works  of  healing,  draw  around  him  many  of  the 
people,  but  the  hatred  of  the  J ewish  theocracy  is  kin¬ 
dled  against  him,  until  at  length  the  strife  is  ended. 
He  goes  up  to  Jerusalem  as  the  Messiah,  is  betrayed, 
and  dies  on  the  cross. 

Such  is  the  short  story  of  the  Gospels.  It  stands 
there  in  these  simple  human  features.  Yet  it  is  the 
claim  of  this  Teacher  of  Nazareth  that  He  was  in  a 
sense  beyond  all  others  the  personal  Son  of  God 
and  Saviour  of  men.  It  is  the  claim  which  has  been 
acknowledged  by  the  great  body  of  his  believers 
from  the  first  until  now.  This  is  the  problem.  And 
now  we  are  to  look  at  the  qualities,  clear,  historic, 
undeniable,  which  make  this  Person,  this  life  in  such 


EDWARD  A .  WASHBURN. 


170 

wondrous  contrast  with  the  outward  conditions.  I 
shall  not,  in  entering  on  such  a  study,  take  for 
granted  any  of  those  parts  of  the  written  life  yet  in 
question  among  critics,  as  the  theological  style  of 
the  fourth  gospel,  or  the  differing  genealogies,  but 
the  features  common  to  all  the  Evangelists.  Nor 
shall  I,  again,  place  foremost  the  miracles  of  the 
New  Testament.  Although  I  hold  that  they  have 
their  rightful  place  in  the  whole  view  of  a  divine 
revelation,  yet  I  cannot  rest  its  chief  defence  on 
them.  Nay,  it  is  because  they  have  been  so  put 
forward,  that  science  has  been  brought  into  its  mis¬ 
taken  conflict  with  faith.  If  Christianity  be  the  re¬ 
ligion  of  the  Son  of  God,  it  must  find  its  best  proof 
in  His  character.  Indeed,  it  is  to  my  mind  one  of 
the  most  striking  facts  of  His  life,  that  the  miracles 
are  only  in  a  very  few  instances  claimed  as  evidence 
of  His  mission,  but  are  wrought  for  the  healing 
of  the  sick,  the  feeding  of  the  hungry,  so  that  their 
true  worth  as  “  signs  ”  or  “  mighty  powers  ”  is 
as  visible  fruits  of  His  love,  which  spring  up  in  the 
pathway  of  so  divine  a  Being.  It  is  not  the  lesser 
miracles  that  prove  Him  ;  it  is  He,  the  living  mira¬ 
cle,  who  makes  us  believe  in  them. 

We  turn,  then,  to  the  character  of  this  Person, 
who  claims  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  we  look  at  it 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  RE  VELA  TION.  !  y  j 

in  its  intellectual  and  moral  features.  It  is  as  the 
Teacher  He  comes  forward  at  the  opening  of  His  mis¬ 
sion.  We  have  in  these  Gospels  the  gathered  words 
of  this  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  At  best  there  are  only 
a  few  scattered  discourses,  spoken  by  the  sea  of  Gali¬ 
lee,  in  the  Temple,  the  street,  or  among  His  disciples  ; 
and  embodied  in  writing  after  His  death,  as  they  had 
been  kept  in  the  hearts  of  His  friends.  Yet  we  can 
gain  from  them  the  clearest  portrait  of  His  revelation. 
If  we  should  even  allow  with  a  late  critic,  Mr.  Ar¬ 
nold,  that  we  can  only  know  the  original  sayings  of 
the  Lord,  as  they  are  obscured  through  the  dense 
medium  of  Evangelists  who  partly  understood  him, 
we  have  a  more  wonderful  fact.  All  agree  in  the 
essential  claim.  Matthew  and  Mark  and  Luke,  as 
well  as  the  beloved  disciple,  declare  the  Son  of  God, 
who  alone  reveals  the  Father.  The  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  has  the  same  spiritual  teaching  as  the  dis¬ 
courses  of  the  fourth  Gospel.  The  “  mind  of  Christ” 
cannot  be  hid  by  the  human  weakness  of  His  bio¬ 
graphers.  What  is  the  sand  compared  with  the  nug¬ 
gets  of  gold?  What  criticism  can  break  the  unity  of 
that  truth,  which  binds  together  these  Gospels,  in 
spite  of  their  unlikeness  of  style  or  method  ?  And 
what  then  is  this  essential  truth  ?  It  is  that  God  has 
revealed  his  grace  as  a  Father  in  Him  ;  has  made  all 


172 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


men  children  in  one  redeemed  family,  partakers  in  a 
life  of  holiness,  and  heirs  of  life  everlasting.  This  is 
His  revelation.  It  is  no  system  of  speculative  doc¬ 
trine.  It  is  not  as  another  Rabbi  that  Jesus  comes  to 
upbuild  a  later  school.  Yet  all  the  deepest  ideas  that 
the  human  mind  craves  as  the  end  of  its  knowledge, 
of  God,  of  the  conscience,  of  the  nature  of  the  soul, 
of  moral  or  social  law,  of  the  destiny  of  the  race,  are 
summed  in  His  teaching.  The  intellect  of  the  world 
has  acknowledged  in  Him  the  highest  Master  of  wis¬ 
dom.  If  we  measure  the  mind  of  Jesus  Christ  by  any 
of  the  great  thinkers  in  science  or  letters,  a  Plato  in 
pure  thought,  a  Humboldt  or  a  Shakespeare,  while 
we  bow  before  their  undying  power,  not  one  holds 
the  same  supremacy  over  the  race.  All  schools  of 
Christian  learning  have  grown  out  of  His  words;  all 
theology,  art,  poetry,  have  found  their  inspiration 
here.  Nay,  even  those  who  scout  His  authority  are 
witnesses  to  His  intellectual  mastery;  for  they  still 
sound  the  same  problems  that  Christianity  opened, 
and  waste  their  wit  to  shape  a  newer  Gospel,  yet 
their  systems  wither,  and  His  word  does  not  pass 
away. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  this  might  over  the  intellect 
of  men  that  the  mind  of  Christ  has  such  supremacy. 
It  is,  on  the  contrary,  the  wonderful  character  of 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  RE  VELA  TION. 


173 


this  Gospel,  that  it  always  takes  us  back  from  the  sub¬ 
tleties  of  all  our  systems  to  its  living  simplicity.  The¬ 
ology  may  weave  its  theories  of  substance,  and  its  for¬ 
ensic  view  of  atonement.  But  we  go  from  them  all 
to  the  heartfelt  word:  “  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  He 
in  Me,  and  I  in  you.”  “  Greater  love  hath  no  man 
than  this,  that  he  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends. 
Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  what  I  command  you.” 
Where  is  the  most  unlettered  man,  who  can  only 
read  his  Bible  in  his  own  mother  tongue,  to  whom 
He  does  not  give  the  same  light  as  to  an  Augustin, 
or  a  Butler  in  his  library  ?  His  homely  parables,  his 
childlike  teachings  of  God,  or  duty,  are  a  daily  bread 
of  life.  And  what  then  shall  explain  this  universality, 
this  fitness  of  the  Gospel  for  all  the  wants  of  mind  or 
heart  ?  I  can  give  but  one  answer.  It  is  because  the 
truth  made  known  in  this  Saviour  of  men,  the  revel¬ 
ation  of  God  as  our  Father  in  the  personal  love  of 
His  Son,  is  that  which  solves  all  the  riddles  of  our 
history,  makes  us  children  instead  of  blind  seekers 
of  an  unknown  cause,  tells  us  that  all  are  one  brother¬ 
hood  in  Christ,  that  our  life  is  an  education  into 
personal  and  social  holiness,  and  the  seed  of  our 
undying  existence.  But  not  only  this.  We  cannot 
divide  the  Revealerof  this  Gospel  from  it,  and  make 
him  only  a  human  sage.  If  we  do  this,  we  say  in 


174 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


the  same  breath  that  He  who  could  speak  such  a 
message  was  a  self-deluded  dreamer.  It  is  His  claim 
that  He  is  not  only  the  messenger  of  such  a  truth, 
but  is  in  His  own  person  the  Truth  and  Way  and 
Life.  We  see  in  the  wisdom  He  reveals  the  very 
proof  of  His  claim;  we  know  in  Him  the  light  of 
the  world.  “  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go?  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life!  ” 

And  thus  I  pass  to  the  next,  the  yet  greater  feature 
of  His  character.  The  person  and  life  of  the  Lord 
are  the  perfect  type  of  that  holiness  which  the  moral 
nature  of  man  strives  after,  yet  has  never  reached 
save  in  Him.  It  is  no  ideal  fancy  we  have  portrayed 
in  the  Gospels,  but  the  history  of  one  who  knew  our 
lot  of  struggle,  of  temptation,  and  trod  its  hardest 
road.  Yet  it  stands  absolutely  alone  in  its  purity. 
Few,  even  of  those  who  have  disbelieved  His 
higher  claim,  have  dared  cast  a  slur  on  His  sinless 
character ;  but  rather  it  has  been  the  fashion  in 
this  day  of  most  searching  criticism  to  speak  of  Him 
as  the  ideal  of  human  goodness.  Follow  then  that 
life  at  every  step  from  childhood  to  manhood.  It  is 
a  growth  without  a  flaw.  There  is  nothing  of  that 
battle  of  flesh  with  spirit,  that  slow  curbing  of  the 
selfish  aims,  that  painful  conquest  of  goodness  we 
see  in  others,  but  the  growth  which  should  be  ours 


CHRIS  T ;  HIS  DI  VINE  RE  VELA  TION.  i  y  5 

if  no  taint  of  evil  had  weakened  our  nature.  But 
not  only  is  it  a  sinless  life  we  gaze  on  ;  it  is  the  union 
of  all  graces  that  are  severed  in  others.  We  see 
in  Him  the  tenderness  of  woman,  with  the  strength 
of  manhood;  the  love  of  friends,  the  love  of  His 
Jewish  race,  yet  the  largest  kinship  with  every  form 
of  humanity,  every  lot  of  suffering ;  the  heart  seem¬ 
ingly  born  for  the  still  happiness  of  home,  yet  the 
self  surrender  of  the  martyr.  There  is  no  one-sided¬ 
ness,  but  a  wonderful  harmony.  None  has  more  of 
personality,  yet  without  a  shade  of  the  individual 
weakness  which  cleaves  to  even  the  best.  I  know 
there  are  those  who,  while  they  acknowledge  this  in 
general,  have  sought  to  find  some  blemishes  in  His 
life.  It  has  been  said  that  he  was  an  ascetic,  but  we 
need  only  enter  the  home  at  Bethany,  or  see  him  by 
the  grave  of  Lazarus  to  know  how  strange  is  such  a 
charge.  It  has  been  said  that  he  gave  way  at  times  to 
anger,  when  he  heaped  fiery  words  on  the  Pharisees, 
and  drove  the  money  changers  from  the  temple.  But 
who  can  mistake  that  righteous  wrath  against  sin  for 
the  outburst  of  a  selfish  passion?  Yet  I  need  not 
dwell  on  these  poor  cavils.  I  will  only  name  one  re¬ 
maining  objection,  because  it  has  been  so  ingeni¬ 
ously  urged  by  some  later  critics.  It  is  said  that  at 
the  best  we  have  only  a  slight  sketch  in  these  Gos- 


176 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


pels ;  a  life  almost  silent  for  thirty  years,  and  after 
that  but  fragmentary.  What  can  we  know  of  the 
weaknesses,  which  even  so  pure  a  person  may  have 
shared  with  other  men?  We  may  find  enough  in 
Him  for  our  deepest  reverence,  but  we  cannot  call 
Him  perfect.  Yet  it  should  be  clear,  I  reply,  that  to 
deny  the  known  because  of  the  unknown,  is  to  de 
stroy  all  evidence.  What  is  there  wanting  to  a 
full,  unclouded  portrait  of  His  mind  or  heart?  If 
aught  be  hid  from  us,  it  is  not  that  the  character  is 
imperfect,  but  so  perfect  that  even  His  nearest  dis¬ 
ciples  could  only  give  us  a  human  transcript  of  His 
holiness.  To  find  imaginary  flaws  is  not  to  read  the 
Gospels  with  an  honest  mind.  If  we  study  this  life 
as  it  is  on  the  simple  page,  it  remains  the  sinless 
miracle  of  all  time.  Place  by  the  side  of  Jesus  Christ 
all  the  purest  men  who  have  won  the  homage  of  the 
race,  a  Confucius,  a  Socrates,  yet  each  has  some 
blemish  which  mars  his  virtue,  and  his  highest  grace 
has  been  a  growth  through  struggle.  Gather  all  of 
Christian  name,  even  those  who  came  nearest  their 
Lord  in  the  first  age,  yet  we  know  that  human 
effort  with  God’s  grace  could  make  a  John,  a  Paul, 
but  not  a  Christ ;  and  when  we  read  the  biography 
of  the  saintliest  since,  a  Kempis,  a  Fenelon,  a  Her¬ 
bert,  a  Leighton,  all  are  but  single,  broken  rays  of 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  REVELATION. 


I  77 


this  white  light;  all  confess  themselves  sinful  men, 
whose  goodness  has  been  borrowed  from  their  per¬ 
fect  Master. 

We  have  thus  studied  the  two  features  of  mental 
and  moral  perfection  which  make  the  character  of 
Jesus  Christ  at  once  so  human,  yet  so  above  the 
height  of  mankind.  But  we  have  now  to  join  them 
in  that,  which  gives  them  their  complete  reality. 
The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.  We 
know  that  such  a  Being,  so  wise,  so  holy,  has  not  only 
walked  on  this  earth,  but  that  His  life  has  entered 
into  the  whole  life  of  our  humanity.  And  here  we 
open  that  historic  view,  which  unfolds  the  nature 
of  His  kingdom,  and  meets  the  keenest  criticism 
brought  against  the  biography  of  the  Gospels.  It 
is  the  charge  of  the  modern  theist  that  Christianity 
is  a  book-revelation ;  that  while  its  moral  truth 
abides,  yet  as  a  historic  fact  it  must  be  ranked  with 
the  faded  legends  of  the  past.  I  have  no  wish  to 
deny,  that  the  truth  of  Christianity  has  too  often 
been  so  identified  with  the  verbal  infallibility  of 
Scripture,  as  to  lay  its  defenders  open  to  the  charge 
of  Bibliolatry.  But  I  take  no  such  position.  Chris¬ 
tianity  is  not  a  book  ;  it  is  a  life.  If  the  character 
we  have  studied  be  what  we  have  maintained,  we 
cannot  so  dismiss  it.  It  is  of  the  very  nature  of 


1 78 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


this  history  that  it  is  not  a  record  of  one  event  in 
the  changeful  tide  of  human  things,  but  is  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day  and  forever.  Look,  then,  anew  at 
this  religion  born  with  its  Author  into  the  world. 
What  is  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Is  it  only  the  bio¬ 
graphy  of  three  and  thirty  years  we  have  before  us  ? 
Is  it  only  the  legend  of  wonders,  which  happened 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  in  a  corner  of  Syria, 
over  which  our  antiquaries  bend  as  they  do  over  a 
monkish  chronicle?  What  is  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ?  It  is  the  history  of  a  religion  left  by  His 
own  design  in  the  form  of  a  social  fellowship,  which 
should  witness  His  truth  and  power  among  men. 
That  household  of  Christ  is  the  organic  seed-vessel 
that  holds  the  whole  after  growth.  Pass  now  from 
the  short  personal  career  of  this  teacher  of  Galilee, 
and  the  grander  miracle  begins.  We  yet  read  its 
first  chapter  with  wonder.  This  religion  of  twelve 
poor,  unlettered  Jewish  fishermen,  the  hated  sect  of 
the  Nazarene,  the  “  execrable  superstition”  of  a 
Tacitus,  after  the  death  of  the  Master  on  the  cross, 
where  all  hope  seemed  crucified  with  Him,  rises  at 
once  in  a  newborn  body;  this  church,  built  on  the 
faith  in  a  risen  Christ,  which  the  sharpest  of  our 
destructive  critics  has  called  “  a  pious  illusion,” 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  apostles  passes  from  its 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  REVELATION. 


I  79 


Hebrew  infancy  to  its  conscious  mission  as  teacher 
of  the  Gentile  world  ;  this  church,  with  no  weapons 
save  its  truth  and  holiness,  against  the  allied  might 
of  Pagan  empire,  philosophy,  culture,  idolatry, 
mounts  in  three  centuries  to  the  throne  of  the 
world,  and  that  not  only  of  outward  power,  but  of  a 
new  worship,  a  new  social  civilization.  Let  criticism 
unriddle  such  a  fact.  A  dead  world  quickened  and 
born  again  by  this  “  pious  illusion  !  ”  We  are 
grateful  to  a  Baur,  who  shows  us  that  Christianity 
came  at  a  time  when  all  the  social  religions  and  move¬ 
ments  of  the  Roman  empire  opened  the  way.  We 
accept  it  as  added  proof  that  its  Author  was  “  the 
fulness  of  times  that  in  the  phrase  of  Lacordaire, 
the  Roman  built  his  roads  for  the  “  triumphal  march 
of  the  Consul  Jesus.”  But  it  only  proves  the  provi¬ 
dence  of  God,  not  the  human  charactor  of  such  a  re¬ 
ligion.  It  is  a  harder  miracle  we  are  forced  to  confess, 
than  all  the  wonders  at  which  men  stumble  in  the 
pages  of  the  Gospels.  But  it  is  not  merely  this  primi¬ 
tive  chapter  we  are  to  read.  It  is  the  unending  mira¬ 
cle  which  reaches  onward  to  ourselves.  This  king¬ 
dom  of  the  Christ  outlived  the  decay  of  the 
Roman  world,  and  educated  the  new  Europe.  All 
the  superstitions  and  the  vices  that  at  last  gathered 
around  the  church  cannot  change  the  fact,  that  it 


i8o 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


was  the  living  power  of  thought  and  social  growth. 
It  is  the  very  key  of  church  history,  without  which 
we  are  blind  to  its  meaning,  that  it  reveals  a 
progress  not  to  be  shut  within  a  Greek  or  a  Latin 
age,  but  to  be  read  in  the  whole  life  of  Christendom. 
Christianity  itself,  its  own  undying  truth  rises 
again  like  its  Author  out  of  the  grave  of  the  dead 
church,  and  begins  afresh  our  modern  history. 
It  is  here  to-day,  All  the  ideas,  all  the  social 
powers  that  quicken  the  race,  are  the  outcome  of 
the  Gospel ;  all  the  yearnings  of  our  modern  world 
for  the  unity  of  mankind  are  the  fulfilling  of  the 
truth,  which  heathendom  never  knew,  and  even  a 
Plato  could  not  reach  beyond  the  dream  of  an 
ideal  commonwealth,  but  which  Jesus  Christ  uttered 
when  He  declared  all  sons  of  one  Father,  and 
brethren  of  one  redeemed  household.  Whence  has 
the  reformer,  who  in  his  mistaken  enmity  teaches  a 
newer  religion  of  humanity  instead  of  the  antiquated 
faith,  learned  a  single  idea  not  given  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  ?  What  are  the  apostles  of  our  latest 
socialism  but  poor  copyists  of  the  first  Christian 
family?  No  step  in  human  progress;  no  solid  gain 
of  freedom  ;  no  hope  for  the  toiling  millions,  which 
is  not  within  the  divine  plan  of  the  Gospel.  The 
Christianity  of  Christ  is  always  the  ideal  of  the 


CHRIST;  HIS  DIVINE  RE  VELA  TION.  \  8 1 

church.  It  has  one  end,  the  unity  of  mankind. 
And  this  kingdom  of  God,  this  history  linked  age 
after  age  with  the  welfare  of  the  race,  this  commu¬ 
nion  which  we  see  here  to-day  alive  as  at  the  begin¬ 
ning,  this  is  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ;  the  volume 
wherein  we  read  the  mind  of  the  Son  of  God. 

With  this  outline — for  who  can  give  more  than 
an  outline  ? — of  a  character,  a  life  so  wonderful, 
we  reach  the  end  of  our  enquiry.  What  shall  ex¬ 
plain  it  ?  Reason  as  well  as  faith  must  give  the 
answer.  It  is  the  history  of  One,  who  in  a  sense 
to  be  affirmed  of  no  other,  was  the  Son  of  God  and 
Saviour  of  mankind.  I  am  not  here  passing  into 
any  theological  argument  as  to  the  divine  nature  of 
Christ.  If  I  were,  indeed,  exploring  that  highest  of 
problems,  I  should  maintain  that  the  doctrine  of 
God  revealed  in  His  Son  was,  so  far  from  a  con¬ 
tradiction,  the  most  reasonable  of  truths.  But  here 
I  follow  only  the  plain  history  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment.  What  is  this  character  of  Jesus  Christ? 
It  reveals  our  highest  conception  of  God,  the 
holiness,  the  love  of  His  divine  nature,  yet  one 
with  a  perfect  humanity,  If  I  see  in  Christ  less 
than  such  a  being,  only  the  teacher  of  a  human 
morality,  or  the  example  of  a  human  goodness,  there 
is  nothing  in  his  revelation  to  demand  more  than  a 


I  82 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


human  origin.  If  I  see  in  him  the  Son  of  God  and 
the  Saviour,  that  history  from  first  to  last,  in  His 
birth,  His  death,  His  personal  career,  and  the  growth 
of  H  is  ki  ngdom,  has  in  it  the  unity  of  a  living  whole. 
Nothing  else  gives  meaning  to  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  “  God  reconciling  the  world  to  Himself;”  it  is 
this,  or  it  is  a  riddle  that  defies  solution. 

Here,  then,  I  apply  the  whole  argument  to 
the  criticism  of  our  day,  which  in  denying  this 
character,  denies  any  divine  revelation.  I  have 
stated  at  the  outset  its  general  position,  but  I  am 
now  to  examine  its  theory  of  the  life  of  Christ.  I 
do  not  linger  here  on  any  earlier  systems  of  natur¬ 
alism.  We  need  not  dig  up  the  remains  of  Voltaire 
or  Rousseau.  We  are  concerned  with  far  abler 
champions.  It  is,  indeed,  the  most  significant  of 
facts,  that  each  theory  in  its  turn  has  destroyed  its 
predecessor ;  and  it  is  yet  more  significant  that  in 
each  case  the  theory  has  been  broken,  as  it  came 
into  collision  with  the  historic  fact  of  the  person  of 
Christ.  The  coarser  deism  of  former  days  flung 
away  Christianity  as  imposture,  but  it  was  dismissed 
by  the  nobler  rationalism  as  unworthy  to  explain  so 
pure  a  character  as  that  of  the  Gospels.  Yet  again 
in  our  own  time  the  earlier  rationalism  has  been  re¬ 
nounced  by  the  later  school.  It  is  but  a  little  while 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  REVELATION 


since  the  theory  of  Strauss  was  held  the  most  bril¬ 
liant  solution  of  the  riddle.  In  its  view  the  Incar¬ 
nation  embodied  the  philosophic  idea  of  the  unity 
of  the  divine  with  the  human,  and  Christ  was  the 
noblest  myth  of  hero  worship.  But  this  notion 
could  not  stand  the  test  of  Gospel  history.  A 
philosophy,  which  taught  that  in  the  age  of  a 
Tacitus  a  religion  could  convert  the  world,  yet  its 
founder  be  no  more  than  a  creation  of  early 
Greek  fable,  was  too  mythical  itself  to  be  long  up¬ 
held.  Our  latest  neology,  therefore,  has  left  the 
field  of  speculation  for  that  of  critical  study.  It 
seeks  to  find  such  contradictions  between  the  first 
three  Gospels  and  the  fourth,  such  marks  of  later 
origin  in  the  epistles,  that  it  can  show  Christianity 
to  have  been  a  legendary  religion,  which  grew  by 
degrees  around  the  small  historic  kernel.  I  cannot 
here  examine  the  whole  ingenious  fabric.  I  shall 
only  test  it  by  the  same  abiding  fact,  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ.  And  I  shall  choose  the  work,  which 
at  once  represents  the  last  position  of  criticism, 
and  by  its  charm  of  style  has  taken  many  captive  ; 
I  mean  the  romance  of  Renan,  called  the  life 
of  Jesus.  His  theory  is  this.  Jesus,  the  Galilean 
youth,  is  born  at  a  time  when  the  Messianic  ideas 
of  his  people  are  at  the  height ;  he  begins  as  a 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


184 

pure  reformer  his  noble  work,  but  by-and-by  he 
is  led  to  believe  Himself  the  Messiah,  is  mingled 
with  the  movements  of  the  Hebrew  state,  and  dies. 
It  is  then,  by  the  favoring  tide  of  events,  that  a 
church  arises;  it  comes  in  contact  with  Gentile  cul¬ 
ture,  and  so  in  the  next  age  a  theology,  a  worship 
of  the  divine  man  grows  out  of  the  simple  Jewish 
germ.  Christian  history  is  thus  a  natural  formation 
like  all  other  history. 

Let  us,  then,  examine  this  theory  in  its  turn,  as 
it  examines  the  Gospels.  Science  cares  for  no 
speculative  notions  of  Christianity,  we  are  told  ; 
we  must  go  to  the  positive  facts.  Yes,  I  accept 
the  challenge.  We  take  this  life  as  it  is  acknow¬ 
ledged  by  the  critic  himself ;  this  life  of  a  youth  of 
Galilee,  who  in  a  corner  of  the  Roman  world  spoke 
a  wisdom  above  all  sages,  reached  a  purity  that 
makes  Him  the  ideal  of  human  character,  and  in 
three  years  upbuilt  a  religion  that  has  in  it  a  light 
and  life  coextensive  with  the  growth  of  the  race. 
There  is  the  fact.  It  is  a  reality  as  sure  as  the  life 
of  a  Caesar  or  a  Socrates.  It  is  somewhat  nearer  the 
ken  of  science  than  the  skulls  or  flint  hatchets,  dug 
from  the  cavern,  out  of  which  our  naturalists  draw  so 
readily  their  guesses  about  pre-historic  man.  We 
ask  the  positive  philosopher  to  solve  it  by  what  he 


CHRIST;  HIS  DIVINE  REVELATION.  j8c 

calls  natural  laws.  Does  he  answer  that  it  cannot  be 
admitted,  because  it  is  a  miracle  ?  But  he  is  then 
assuming  the  very  point  to  be  proved.  If  he  were 
reasoning  on  metaphysical  grounds  that  a  miracle 
is  impossible,  I  should  ask  nothing  better  than  to 
meet  him  there.  I  should  say  that  his  claim  leads 
of  necessity  to  the  denial  of  a  God  of  intelligence  or 
love,  and  in  that  case  we  are  no  longer  disputing  of 
Christianity,  but  of  the  possibility  of  any  religious 
belief.  But  it  is  the  boast  of  our  critic,  in  his  own 
preface,  that  science  has  nothing  to  do  with  abstract 
reasoning  for  or  against  miracles.  It  simply  tests 
them  by  fact.  We  ask  him  again  what  explains  this 
fact  ?  Either  it  is  true  that  we  have  here  what  passes 
beyond  the  common  phenomena  of  history,  or  we 
must  hold  that  the  fancy  of  a  few  half-lettered,  con¬ 
tradictory  writers  in  an  age,  after  the  creative  life 
of  the  religion  had  faded,  wrought  out  a  character 
more  perfect  than  any  in  human  literature  ;  and  that, 
morever,  the  whole  fabric  of  a  Christian  civilization 
has  been  built  on  a  legend.  Is  this  reasonable  ?  It 
is  to  destroy  history.  On  whatever  side  we  test  it, 
it  is  untenable.  It  is  useless  to  seek  a  later  author¬ 
ship  for  the  sacred  books.  We  may  give  up  all  a  just 
criticism  asks,  and  there  still  remains  this  essential 
witness  to  the  life  of  Jesus.  It  is  useless  to  rank 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


1 86 

his  religion  in  the  family  of  past  systems.  All  the 
faiths  of  mankind  have  had  a  local  character  save 
two,  those  of  Mohammed  and  Buddha.  But  the 
truth  of  the  Koran,  the  unity  of  God,  is  confessedly 
borrowed  ;  it  is  a  bastard  Christianity.  Buddhism, 
again,  while  it  has  a  likeness  in  its  revolt  against  the 
Hindu  priesthood,  is  wholly  unlike  in  that  which 
is  the  essential  truth  of  Christianity  ;  it  has  no  faith 
in  God  or  immortality,  and  it  has  to-day  no  living 
growth.  Both  these  religions  stand  among  the  fore¬ 
most  of  all  time,  but  they  sink  by  the  side  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

And,  therefore,  we  answer  this  last  champion  of 
naturalism  by  his  own  tests.  We  do  not  deny  all 
the  truth  he  has  discovered  by  critical  study  ;  nay, 
we  are  grateful  that  he  has  brought  forward  the 
human  side  of  Christian  history.  But  we  say  that 
his  theory  is  from  first  to  last  the  assumption  of  the 
whole  question  he  claims  to  solve.  He  has  come  to 
the  life  of  Christ  with  the  fixed  denial  of  anything 
supernatural,  and  written  it  as  he  would  the  life  of 
a  Francis  of  Assisi.  But  unhappily  this  romance 
of  Renan  has  another  and  a  less  pardonable  feature. 
It  is  with  words  of  deep  reverence  that  he  portrays 
the  Teacher  of  Galilee  as  the  wisest  and  purest  of 
men,  yet  at  the  close,  in  order  to  explain  away  the 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  RE  VELA  TION. 


187 


miracle  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  he  does  not  fear  to 
represent  Jesus  as  lending  Himself  to  a  gross  impos¬ 
ture.  Amazing  sophistry!  To  save  the  defects  of 
this  theory,  the  saintly  Rabbi  is  changed  into  both 
enthusiast  and  deceiver!  Nothing  can  show  in  so 
clear  a  way  the  dilemma  to  which  any  such  theory  is 
forced.  Jesus  Christ  is  either  above  man,  or  He  is 
below  the  standard  of  the  wisest  and  purest  men. 
But  I  will  not  dwell  on  this.  I  am  glad,  with  all  my 
heart,  to  acknowledge  a  nobler  spirit  in  the  mod¬ 
ern  critic,  than  that  of  the  coarse,  venomous  unbe¬ 
lief  of  former  days. 

Yet  I  need  not  reason  further.  I  need  only  turn 
to  the  latest  naturalism  for  its  own  confession. 
Nothing,  since  the  famous  saying  of  the  half  believ¬ 
ing  Rousseau,  is  more  striking  than  the  close  of  this 
romance  of  Renan.  Listen  to  the  last  word  of 
science :  “  This  sublime  man,  who  still  presides 

each  day  over  the  history  of  the  world,  it  is  allowed 
to  call  divine,  not  in  the  sense  that  Jesus  has  ab¬ 
sorbed  all  divinity,  but  that  he  has  made  for  his 
race  the  greatest  step  toward  it.  Amidst  the  com¬ 
mon  level  of  mankind  there  rise  pillars  toward 
heaven,  which  witness  a  nobler  destiny.  Jesus  is 
the  highest  of  these  pillars.  In  him  is  centered  all 
of  good  and  exalted  in  our  nature.  Whatever  may 


1 88 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


be  the  unlooked  for  phenomena  of  the  future,  Jesus 
will  never  be  surpassed.  His  worship  will  grow 
young  forever.  All  ages  will  say,  that  among  the 
sons  of  men  none  has  ever  been  greater  than  Jesus.” 
I  pause  before  such  words.  Admit  this  to  be  French 
rhetoric,  yet  the  logic  of  truth  compels  the  language. 
If  after  all  the  effort  of  subtle  learning  to  rob  this 
life  of  its  divinity,  it  must  allow  that  the  man  of 
Nazareth  has  reached  a  height  none  ever  reached 
before  him,  or  can  ever  surpass  ;  that  his  religion 
has  this  undying  future,  we  ask  no  more.  I  accept 
it  as  the  unasked  homage  of  the  mind  and  heart. 
I  read  it  not  in  scorn,  but  gratitude.  I  count  this 
life  of  Jesus  one  of  the  best  books  of  Christian  evi¬ 
dence  the  age  has  ever  seen. 

We  may  here  then  sum  up  the  argument  I  have 
sought  to  draw  from  the  twofold  page  of  the  New 
Testament  and  Christian  history.  The  life  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  this  reality.  But  it  is  not  only  to  answer 
modern  unbelief  I  here  present  it ;  it  is  to  quicken 
our  own  living  faith.  Yes,  this  is  the  power  of  such 
a  view  of  the  Incarnation,  that  it  gives  us  the  real 
ground  where  faith  and  knowledge  can  meet,  where 
our  religion  becomes  to  us  a  sure,  a  sacred  truth  in 
this  day  of  opinions  !  I  cannot  more  than  glance  at 
such  a  thought  in  closing,  but  I  will  briefly  name  a 


CHRIST  ;  HIS  DIVINE  RE  VELA  TION. 


189 


few  of  its  bearings.  Here,  I  claim,  is  our  noblest 
line  of  Christian  evidence  in  the  perplexed  strife 
with  science.  There  need  be  no  strife,  unless  it  be 
with  the  materialist,  who  knows  no  God  save  a  blind 
natural  force.  No  !  we  do  not  sever  revelation  from 
the  domain  of  science  ;  we  must  rather  see  in  revel¬ 
ation  that  law  of  God  in  the  moral  history  of  man 
which  is  no  contradiction  of  nature,  but  its  fulfillment. 
The  life  of  Christ  reveals  this  truth.  It  gives  their 
true  meaning  to  the  wonders  of  the  New  Testament. 
Is  it  a  thing  incredible  to  us,  when  we  have  seen  the 
divine  purpose  of  such  a  life,  that  He  should  heal 
the  sick,  or  raise  the  dead  ?  We  have  a  far  stronger 
argument  than  the  older  defenders  of  the  school  of 
Paley.  We  hold  as  truly  the  credibility  of  the  Gos¬ 
pel  narrative,  but  we  do  not  make  our  Christianity 
a  tradition  of  the  past  alone.  The  supernatural  is 
not  chiefly  in  the  outward  signs,  but  in  the  un¬ 
ending  law  by  which  this  divine  life  works  in  the 
life  of  men.  The  special  wonders  were  fitted  to 
the  early  time,  but  the  organic  life  is  to  us  a 
grander  fact.  We  know  His  spirit  in  the  truth, 
that  reveals  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  love  that 
feeds  the  want  of  the  human  heart,  and  raises  men 
from  the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of  righteousness. 
The  Son  of  God  hath  this  witness  in  Himself. 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


I90 

Here  again  we  have  our  true  ground  in  all  the 
questions  of  criticism,  which  at  this  day  assail  the 
record.  If  we  have  known  Him,  who  is  the  Word 
of  life,  we  have  learned  how  to  read  the  written 
word  with  a  knowledge  of  its  essential  meaning. 
The  chief  success  of  a  destructive  criticism  is  in 
the  fact  that  so  many  have  been  led,  by  their  theory 
of  an  infallible  letter,  to  put  their  own  interpreta¬ 
tions  instead  of  its  living  truth.  We  can  leave  to 
science  what  is  within  its  sphere.  The  necessary 
faith  is  the  same  for  the  scholar  and  the  simplest 
mind,  which  cannot  master  the  difficulties  of  Scrip¬ 
ture,  but  can  know  the  argument  beaming  from  the 
open  Gospel.  Revelation  was  not  given  to  be  a 
critical  puzzle,  but  to  teach  the  way  of  life.  Such  a 
view  of  the  life  of  Christ  thus  gives  us  our  real  unity 
amidst  the  strifes  of  doctrinal  opinion.  Christian 
truth  is  one,  because  it  rests  not  on  a  system  of 
theology,  but  on  Him,  who  is  a  living  person.  If 
we  have  learned  the  meaning  of  His  incarnate  work, 
all  the  connected  truths  of  the  New  Testament 
are  seen  in  their  right  relation  to  this  one  source. 
His  divinity  shines  forth  in  His  wisdom  and  His  holi¬ 
ness  ;  his  death  is  the  fulfilling  of  His  whole  redeem¬ 
ing  work  ;  the  new  birth  of  the  spirit,  and  the  gift 
of  His  grace,  are  known  in  the  growth  of  our  Christ- 


CHRIS  T  ;  HIS  DI  VINE  RE  VELA  TION. 


1 9 1 


like  graces  ;  our  union  in  His  church  is  a  brother¬ 
hood  in  the  household  of  redeemed  men,  and  the  life 
of  the  world  to  come  is  the  life  begun  here  in  duty  to 
God  and  men.  Doctrine  and  life  are  not  twain,  but 
one.  If  our  theology  forget  this  principle,  it  will 
change  the  religion  of  Christ  into  a  system  of  no¬ 
tions.  It  is  when  the  Incarnation  has  been  made 
a  metaphysical  formula,  the  divinity  torn  from  the 
humanity,  the  death  from  the  whole  life  of  sacrifice, 
the  faith  from  a  real  holiness,  the  church  fellowship 
from  its  social  meaning,  that  men  have  lost  their 
belief  in  the  creeds.  This  is  the  deepest  lesson  to¬ 
day,  that  subtle  definitions  cannot  restore  the  unity 
of  the  faith.  I  rejoice  that  this  very  strife  through 
which  we  are  now  passing,  shall  lead  us  to  the  more 
real  ground,  where  all  true  followers  of  the  Master 
shall  be  one. 

And  thus,  as  my  closing  thought,  we  may  look 
forward  beyond  the  unbelief  of  the  time  to  the  re¬ 
sult.  We  hear  the  voices  of  many,  who  tell  us  that 
we  have  outlived  the  Christianity  of  the  past,  and 
must  end  in  the  worship  of  an  unknown  God,  a  new 
religion  of  humanity.  Is  this  the  last  triumph  of 
science,  to  give  us  nothingness?  No!  We  need 
not  fear.  The  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  will 
be  its  own  evidence.  The  wants  it  meets  are  the 


192 


EDWARD  A.  WASHBURN. 


same.  If  the  world  has  lost  its  faith  in  dead  sys¬ 
tems,  it  must  seek  a  personal  Father,  a  Providence 
in  human  history,  a  hope  for  mankind  in  this  strug¬ 
gle  with  natural  and  moral  evil,  a  kingdom  of  God, 
that  can  solve  the  dark  riddles  of  poverty  and  wrong 
and  sorrow,  and  make  men  one  at  last  in  a  true 
brotherhood.  “  Art  Thou  He  that  should  come,  or 
look  we  for  another  ?  ”  is  the  question  many  minds 
ask  in  earnest  thought.  I  thank  God  we  may  answer 
it  with  no  theories  of  Christ  or  Christianity.  We 
lead  the  doubter  forth  as  we  should  the  blind,  who 
should  tell  us  there  was  no  light  from  heaven,  and 
bid  him  feel  the  sun  in  its  midday  strength.  We 
point  him  to  this  living  kingdom  of  Christ,  which 
cannot  pass  away,  because  it  is  built  on  the  nature, 
and  is  large  as  the  destiny  of  mankind.  This  is  the 
evidence  of  His  religion.  This  is  the  book  of  the 
life  of  Christ.  It  begins  with  the  Gospel  of  His 
birth.  It  is  written  in  the  yet  unfinished  acts  of 
all  apostles,  from  a  Paul  to  an  Augustine  and  a 
Luther,  who  have  taught  his  truth  ;  from  the  battle¬ 
fields  of  the  church  to  the  least  servant  of  the 
Master  who  has  borne  His  cross;  from  the  library 
of  the  scholar,  the  palace,  the  prison,  the  hospital,  the 
highways  and  the  byways  ;  wherever  this  divine  man 
has  spoken  to  men  of  His  Father  and  their  Father  ; 


CHRIST ;  HIS  DIVINE  REVELATION. 


]93 


wherever  He  has  healed  the  penitent,  and  led  the 
lost  back  to  the  way  of  life  ;  wherever  He  has  lifted 
the  craftsman  above  his  toil ;  has  broken  the  chain 
of  the  slave  ;  has  made  rich  and  poor  partakers  of 
one  grace,  and  blessed  the  grave  with  this  word  of 
comfort,  “  I  am  the  Resurrection.”  All  are  His 
witnesses,  and  from  all  rises  the  same  confession, 
that  was  uttered  in  the  earliest  Christian  time : 
“  I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of 
heaven  and  earth  ;  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son  our 
Lord,  who  was  conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate, 
was  crucified,  dead  and  buried;  the  third  day  He 
rose  from  the  dead,  He  ascended  into  heaven,  and 
sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Al¬ 
mighty.  And  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  holy 
catholic  church,  the  communion  of  saints;  the  for¬ 
giveness  of  sins;  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and 
the  life  everlasting.  Amen.” 


. 


J 


•> 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST? 


By  Rev.  CHAUNCEY  GILES. 


Text  : — “  Behold  a  virgin  shall  be  with  child, 

AND  SHALL  BRING  FORTH  A  SON,  AND  THOU  SHALT  CALL 

his  name  Emmanuel,  which  being  interpreted  is  God 
WITH  US.” - MaTTH.  I.,  23D. 

The  Lord  has  always  been  in  the  effort  to  reveal 
Himself  to  man.  He  created  man  to  be  the  recipient 
of  His  life,  and  the  object  of  His  love.  He  made 
man  in  His  own  image,  after  His  own  likeness,  that 
he  might  be  capable  of  becoming  the  embodiment 
of  the  Divine  love  and  wisdom  in  ever-increasing 
fulness.  It  is  the  essential  nature  of  unselfish  love 
to  give  itself  to  others.  Infinite  love  must  be  an  in¬ 
finite  desire  to  make  others  the  sharers  of  its  blessed¬ 
ness,  and  infinite  wisdom  must  provide  the  best  pos¬ 
sible  means  of  accomplishing  the  purposes  of  infinite 
love.  This  is  the  final  end  of  the  creation. 

The  material  universe  must,  therefore,  be  a  revel¬ 
ation  of  God  from  God;  it  must  be  the  form  of  His 


196 


CHAUNCEY  GILES. 


thought,  the  embodiment  of  His  love,  and  point  in 
every  substance  and  quality  to  human  good.  Be¬ 
fore  man  lost  his  finer  consciousness  by  sin,  he 
could  see  the  love  and  wisdom  of  the  Lord  in  the 
creation  as  in  an  open  book ;  he  could  give  the  name, 
that  is,  he  could  discern  the  divine  meaning  in  every 
natural  object  presented  to  his  senses.  Some  gifted 
souls  have  retained  this  consciousness  in  an  imperfect 
degree  ;  but  it  is  rather  a  feeling  of  the  beauty  and 
significance  of  nature  than  a  distinct  thought.  They 
are  conscious  that  star  and  mountain  and  ocean  and 
flower  must  have  a  meaning,  though  they  do  not 
know  what  it  is.  A  few  may  be  able  to  look 
“  through  nature  up  to  nature’s  God,”  but  their 
sight  is  so  dim,  and  their  perception  so  feeble  and 
vague,  that  they  see  only  the  faint  image  of  His 

glory,  and  hear  only  the  echo  of  His  voice.  They 

% 

see  Him,  if  at  all,  “as  in  a  glass  darkly.”  His  image 
is  confused  with  the  forms  of  nature.  But  to  most 
men,  even  the  most  gifted  in  science,  nature  has 
not  been  transparent ;  they  could  not  look  through 
it  to  anything  beyond.  Their  thought  and  affec¬ 
tions  rested  in  it,  and  they  mistook  the  creation  for 
the  Creator. 

When  man  had  fallen  so  low  that  there  was  a 
breach  between  his  highest  faculties  and  the  Lord  ; 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST? 


197 


when  sin  had  caused  a  deadly  stupor  in  his  heavenly 
affections,  and  had  perverted  all  the  forms  of  his 
understanding  so  that  he  saw  everything  distorted, 
and  nothing  clearly,  the  Lord  came  to  him  in  the 
form  of  an  angel,  and  revealed  Himself  in  a  written 
Word,  in  Moses,  in  the  prophets  and  the  Psalms.  He 
wrought  the  most  stupendous  miracles ;  gave  His 
law  in  the  most  impressive  manner  amid  the  thun¬ 
ders  of  Sinai;  sent  judgments  for  sin,  and  blessings 
for  obedience ;  He  instructed  and  warned  by  the 
mouth  of  His  prophets.  But  the  breach  between 
man  and  the  Lord  continued  to  grow  wider.  Man 
continued  to  gravitate  toward  outward  and  sensuous 
things.  The  Lord  was  losing  His  hold  upon  his 
affections.  Man  lost  his  power  of  conceiving  of  a 
spiritual  world,  and  of  a  spiritual  state  of  existence. 
A  Being  of  infinite  love  and  wisdom,  who  appealed 
only  to  motives  of  fear  and  hope,  who  revealed 
Himself  only  to  the  understanding  and  the  reason, 
was  too  remote  from  him  to  maintain  any  control¬ 
ling  power  over  him.  He  had  come  into  a  state  in 
which  he  must  have  a  God  whom  he  could  see  and 
hear  and  touch,  a  God  in  the  human  form,  with  a 
distinct  personality,  a  God  who  could  be  with  him 
in  the  state  to  which  he  had  fallen. 

Infinite  love  could  not  rest  until  it  had  met  these 


198 


CHA  UNCE  Y  GILES. 


demands  of  man’s  exigency.  The  Lord  had  done  all 
He  could  for  man  in  every  stage  of  his  descent.  He 
challenges  him  to  mention  anything  He  could  have 
done  which  He  had  not  done  for  His  people.  He 
could  not  fail  them  now.  He  had,  indeed,  tried  to 
comfort  and  cheer  them  with  the  promise  that  He 
would  come  in  the  fulness  of  time,  discomfit  their 
enemies,  and  save  them. 

In  our  text  we  have  the  announcement  of  His 
coming,  and  the  method  and  the  purpose  of  it.  He 
came  to  be  Emmanuel ;  God  with  us.  Emmanuel 
expresses  His  character  and  relations  to  men;  Jesus 
the  work  He  came  to  do,  and  Christ  the  anointing 
of  divine  power  with  which  He  was  endowed  for 
the  performance  of  His  work.  Jesus  Christ,  there¬ 
fore,  was  God  with  men.  God  in  a  human  form  ; 
God  in  a  human  nature  and  personality;  God  in 
the  material  world  ;  God  in  a  material  body.  Jesus 
Christ  was  the  Alpha  become  the  Omega;  the  First 
become  the  Last.  This  is  the  answer  which  the 
Lord  himself  gives  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  to  the 
question,  Who  was  Jesus  Christ?  But  it  is  an 
answer  which  has  been  much  misunderstood,  both 
by  those  who  accept  it,  and  by  those  who  reject  it. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  Gospels  will  show 
that  Jesus  Christ,  when  speaking  of  Himself,  rarely, 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST?  199 

if  ever,  identifies  Himself  with  the  Father.  On  the 
contrary,  He  maintains  a  clear  and  constant  distinc¬ 
tion  between  Himself  and  the  Father,  even  while 
claiming  divine  attributes.  Even  when  He  declares 
that  He  and  the  Father  are  one,  He  does  not  say 
they  are  the  same.  He  shows  that  they  were  not 
identical.  This  distinction  which  He  scrupulously 
maintains  between  Himself  and  the  Father  has  led 
to  two  directly  opposite  results,  one,  that  He  was 
not  God,  but  only  a  more  largely  endowed  man  ; 
the  other,  that  He  was  God,  but  a  distinct  person 
from  Jehovah.  Both  of  these  views  are  inconsistent 
with  reason,  and  irreconcilable  with  the  whole  of 
Scripture.  The  New  Church  does  not,  therefore, 
hold  to  either  of  them.  Its  doctrines  teach  that 
Jesus  Christ,  while  He  dwelt  among  men,  was  not 
Jehovah,  nor  was  He  a  man  like  other  men.  He 
was  the  human  nature  which  Jehovah,  the  Divine, 
as  it  is  in  itself,  whose  name  is  I  Am,  and  of  whom 
nothing  can  be  known  or  predicated  except  existence, 
assumed  for  the  purpose  of  revealing  Himself  to 
man  in  His  proper  form  and  character,  and  coming 
to  him  in  a  way  to  gain  recognition,  and  save  him. 
He  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  He  differed  from 
man  in  having  a  Divine  Father;  He  differed  from 
Jehovah  in  having  a  human  soul.  He  was  not  a 


200 


CHA  UNCE  Y  GILES. 


Divine  Being  distinct  from  the  Father.  One  Divine 
Being  cannot  beget  another  Divine  Being.  Man 
partakes  of  the  nature  of  the  father  and  mother. 
Jesus  Christ  had  a  Divine  Father  and  a  human 
mother.  When  we  use  the  words  Jesus  Christ  we 
must  limit  the  meaning  to  the  human  nature  de¬ 
rived  from  Mary,  but  subject  to  the  divine  nature 
within.  It  was  the  human  nature  that  was  born. 
A  divine  ‘nature  could  not  be  born,  but  it  could  be 
clothed  with  a  human  nature,  and  by  means  of  it 
manifest  itself  in  human  forms  and  conditions,  and 
in  this  way  become  known  to  men.  Jehovah  was 
in  Jesus  Christ  as  a  divine  soul,  as  man’s  soul  is  in 
his  body.  Thus  Jehovah  and  Jesus  were  not  two 
persons,  but  one  person,  as  the  human  soul  and 
material  body  are  not  two  men,  but  one  man.  The 
body  is  not  the  soul ;  neither  is  the  soul  the  body. 
Taken  together  they  make  one  person,  one  man. 
We  must  conceive  of  Jehovah  as  being  within  Jesus, 
and  not  as  standing  by  His  side,  nor  as  dwelling  in 
some  place  where  Jesus  is  not. 

This  is  the  constant  representation  which  Jesus 
gives  of  His  relation  to  Jehovah  in  the  Gospels. 
‘‘The  Father  is  in  Me;”  “  I  came  out  from  God,” 
not  from  some  place  where  He  is  to  some  world 
where  He  is  not;  “  I  came  out  from  Him,”  as  the 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST?  201 

plant  comes  out  from  the  seed,  as  speech  comes 
from  thought,  and  act  from  life;  “  Neither  came  I 
of  myself ;  He  sent  me,”  yet  “  He  dwelleth  in  Me.” 
We  must  keep  the  sending  and  the  coming  and  the 
doing  in  connection  with  the  Father;  “  He  doeth 
the  works.”  If  we  keep  in  mind  that  the  Father 
was  in  the  Son  as  the  soul  is  in  the  body,  it  will 
help  us  to  understand  how  Jehovah  and  Jesus  were 
one  Divine  Person,  as  soul  and  body  make  one 
human  person.  It  will  help  us  still  further,  if  we 
keep  in  mind  that  it  is  the  inmost  of  every  human 
being  which  constitutes  his  personality.  It  is  the 
soul,  not  the  body,  which  determines  the  rank  of 
every  human  being.  The  soul  of  Jesus  Christ  was 
Jehovah  ;  viewed  in  His  whole  nature  He  was  there¬ 
fore  divine. 

We  are  also  to  take  into  consideration  the  fact 
that  a  human  nature  is  something  more  than  a 
physical  nature.  Animals  have  a  physical  nature, 
but  they  do  not  possess  a  human  nature.  A  human 
nature  is  constituted  of  will  and  understanding;  it 
can  reason  and  remember,  and  conceive  of  qualities 
separate  from  their  subjects,  and  it  is  capable  of 
indefinite  progress.  Jehovah  took  upon  Himself  a 
complete  human  nature,  endowed  with  all  human 
qualities,  and  subject  to  all  human  limitations.  It 


202 


CHAUNCEY  GILES. 


could  increase  in  knowledge;  it  could  be  tempted; 
it  could  love  and  suffer,  enjoy  and  die. 

This  fact  has  given  rise  to  many  doubts  about 
the  divine  character  of  the  Son.  But  if  He  had 
not  been  subject  to  all  these  limitations,  His  nature 
would  not  have  been  human,  and  the  end  of  the 
Incarnation  would  have  been  defeated.  Indeed, 
there  would  have  been  no  Incarnation. 

There  is  one  other  fact  to  be  taken  into  considera¬ 
tion  which  has  an  important  bearing  upon  the  sub¬ 
ject.  The  human  nature  held  within  it  the  infinite 
forces  of  the  divine  love  and  wisdom,  and  it  was 
constantly  undergoing  a  change  from  the  influence 
of  their  presence  and  power.  This  change  is  called 
glorification.  It  consisted  in  putting  off  the  finite 
and  imperfect  human  which  was  common  to  men, 
and  replacing  it  with  a  divine  humanity,  capable  of 
acting  with  the  divine  as  it  is  in  itself.  This  change 
in  the  human  nature  was  the  return  to  the  Father. 
The  human  consciousness  became  perfectly  united 
with  the  divine  consciousness.  Before  this  union 
took  place  the  human  could  think  of  the  divine  as 
distinct  from  itself,  as  a  man  can  think  of  his  body 
as  distinct  from  himself.  The  human  could  pray  to 
the  divine;  could  seem  to  be  deserted  by  it.  But 
when  the  glorification  was  completed,  the  two  na- 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST?  203 

tures  became  one.  There  was  only  one  conscious¬ 
ness,  one  will.  The  Father  dwelt  in  the  Son,  and 
the  Son  in  the  Father.  Those  who  saw  Jesus  saw 
the  Father.  Now  Jehovah  and  Jesus  are  one  divine 
person,  and  have  one  name,  and  that  is  Lord.  The 
prophecy  is  fulfilled,  “  There  is  one  Lord,  and  one 
name  ”  “  In  Jesus  Christ  dwells  the  fulness  of  the 

Godhead  bodily.” 

This  grand  and  central  truth  will  appear  still  more 
clearly  as  we  proceed  to  inquire  into  the  reasons  for 
the  assumption  of  a  human  nature,  and  see  how 
Jesus  worked  and  lived  while  He  dwelt  among 
men.  Did  He  live  and  work  like  a  God,  or  like  an 
imperfect  and  sinful  man  ?  We  have  already  touched 
upon  the  first  part  of  the  question,  but  its  importance 
demands  further  exposition  and  illustration. 

For  what  purpose  did  Jehovah  take  upon  himself 
a  human  nature  ?  The  word  Emmanuel  is  the 
briefest  answer.  He  did  it  that  He  might  be  God 
with  men,  and  thus  become  Jesus  their  Saviour. 
He  took  upon  Himself  man’s  nature  that  He  might 
bridge  the  gulf  which  sin  had  made  between  Him 
and  man,  and  come  to  man,  and  help  man  to  come 
to  Him.  The  human  became  a  mediator  between 
the  divine  and  man.  It  made  an  atonement  between 
them.  Jehovah  came  into  such  relations  to  man 


204 


CHA  UNCE  Y  GILES. 


that  He  could  bear  His  sins.  He  could  put,  as  it 
were,  His  divine  shoulder  to  them,  and  by  His 
omnipotent  power  roll  their  burden  off  from  man’s 
soul.  He  came  into  such  contact  with  man’s  nature 
that  He  could  heal  His  spiritual  diseases,  and  pour 
a  new  current  of  life  into  His  dying  soul.  His  work 
embraces  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  the  regeneration  of 
man’s  spiritual  nature,  and  the  restoration  to  the 
soul  of  the  divine  image  and  likeness  lost  by  the 
fall.  To  accomplish  this  work  it  was  necessary  that 
He  should  be  God  with  man.  No  mere  man  could 
do  it  ;  no  angel  could  do  it.  It  was  a  work  which 
He  alone  who  is  life,  could  perform. 

The  grounds  of  this  necessity  embrace  some  of 
the  profoundest  questions  which  have  ever  exer¬ 
cised  the  powers  of  the  human  mind.  Yet  when 
divested  of  metaphysical  subtleties,  and  viewed  in 
the  light  of  all  the  divine  methods,  they  are  plain 
and  simple  and  easy  of  comprehension.  They  are 
illustrated  and  confirmed  by  all  human  observation 
and  experience. 

Every  one  knows  that  power  cannot  be  applied 
to  effect  any  given  purpose’  until  it  is  connected 
with  the  means  necessary  to  accomplish  it,  in  such 
a  manner  that  it  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
them.  The  means  by  which  the  connection  is  ef- 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST?  205 

fected  will  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the  power, 
and  the  effect  to  be  produced.  Here  is  a  falling 
stream,  rushing  along  over  its  rocky  bed,  playing 
idly  with  pebbles,  swinging  in  lovely  curves  round 
rock  and  root,  leaping  with  joy  into  quiet  pools, 
smoothing  its  surface  into  shining  mirrors,  and 
holding  in  its  peaceful  bosom  images  of  grass  and 
blossoms,  the  trees  which  fringe  its  borders,  and 
the  mountains  whose  mighty  shoulders  buttress  the 
skies,  and  the  blue  vault  of  heaven,  with  its  suns 
and  constellations.  This  stream  holds  in  its  hands 
an  immense  force.  We  desire  to  bring  that  force 
into  our  service,  to  make  it  grind  our  wheat,  spin 
our  cotton  and  wool,  weave  our  cloth,  drive  our 
planes  and  saws,  and  swing  our  hammers,  and  in 
manifold  ways  do  our  work.  But  to  do  this  we 
must  bring  it  into  connection  with  the  work  to  be 
done.  We  must  put  suitable  tools  into  its  hands. 
The  stream  must  be  with  them  in  such  a  manner 
that  its  force  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them. 
When  this  is  done  it  will  give  us  all  the  power  it 
possesses. 

The  same  water  lies  in  a  well,  or  sleeps  in  a  foun¬ 
tain,  or  rolls  in  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  To  bring 
that  into  our  service  we  must  change  its  form,  and 
prepare  a  place  for  it  suitable  to  its  nature.  Then 


206 


CH  A  UNCE  V  GILES. 


it  will  apply  its  mighty  force  to  our  burdens  ;  it 
will  give  swiftness  to  our  feet,  bring  the  ends  of  the 
earth  together,  and  make  neighbors  of  the  most 
remote  peoples.  Steam  is  God’s  power  brought 
into  human  use.  The  boiler  and  piston  and  cylinder 
are  to  this  power  as  the  human  nature  which  Jeho¬ 
vah  assumed  is  to  His  divine  power  of  overcoming 
man’s  enemies,  of  healing  his  diseases,  and  regener¬ 
ating  his  soul. 

These  are  examples  of  universal  law,  and  we  need 
not  go  out  of  the  circle  of  the  most  limited  experi¬ 
ence  to  find  instances  of  it.  Indeed,  every  act  we 
do  in  attaining  the  ends  we  seek  illustrates  it.  Fire 
will  boil  our  pot,  and  bake  our  bread,  and  roast  our 
meat,  but  we  must  bring  them  together  in  an  orderly 
way,  according  to  their  nature.  The  fire  must  be 
with  the  substances  it  is  to  act  upon,  and  its  power 
must  be  accurately  adjusted  to  their  nature.  If  we 
throw  our  meat  into  the  fire  it  will  be  consumed. 
So  “  God  out  of  Christ  is  a  consuming  fire.”  “  No 
man  can  see  His  face  and  live.”  The  ardors  of  His 
love,  and  the  glory  of  His  wisdom  are  so  intense  in 
their  activities,  that  man  could  no  more  subsist  in 
their  immediate  presence  than  a  straw  could  -pre¬ 
serve  its  structure  in  the  sun. 

Now  let  us  apply  the  principles  embodied  in  these 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST?  20J 

illustrations  to  the  relations  of  the  Lord  to  man. 
Man  is  the  object  to  which  the  divine  power  is  to 
be  applied  ;  he  is  the  organic  form  to  be  created 
and  filled  with  life.  It  is  the  Lord’s  purpose  to 
mould  him  into  His  own  image;  to  impress  His 
own  beauty  upon  him  ;  to  fill  him  with  His  own 
love  ;  to  enlighten  him  with  His  own  wisdom,  and 
to  bless  him  with  His  own  joy.  All  the  power  to 
accomplish  this  final  end  of  infinite  love  is  the  Lord’s 
power.  The  supreme  question  must,  therefore,  be 
how  to  apply  the  power  to  man  to  accomplish  the 
result.  This  is  the  question  which  absorbs  the 
whole  thought  of  the  Lord.  The  material  universe 
in  every  form  and  substance  and  motion  is  the 
method  and  provision  of  infinite  wisdom  to  adjust 
infinite  power  to  accomplish  this  purpose.  It  is  the 
Lord’s  method  of  coming  to  man  from  one  direction, 
that  He  may  be  with  him. 

Think  for  a  moment  how  nice  and  exquisite  must 
be  the  adjustment  of  one  substance  to  another, 
which  form  the  steps  of  His  descent  to  man’s  physi¬ 
cal  nature.  How  perfectly  the  light  is  adapted  to 
the  eye,  so  that  the  sun  can  come  to  man  and  dwell 
with  him,  be  a  light  on  his  path,  paint  his  pictures, 
reveal  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  earth,  and  the 
glory  of  the  heavens.  With  equal  precision  heat, 


208 


CHA  UNCE  Y  GILES. 


another  substance  of  the  sun,  is  adjusted  to  the 
structure  of  all  material  forms.  The  sun  comes  to 
the  earth  to  be  with  every  animal  and  plant,  and 
grain  of  sand,  to  warm  and  vivify,  and  make  the 
earth  a  possible  and  pleasant  home  for  man,  and  to 
give  action  to  all  His  own  physical  forms.  With 
what  miraculous  precision  these  solar  forces  are 
adjusted  to  the  nature  of  every  organic  form  and 
inorganic  substance.  If  their  intensity  were  much 
increased,  the  earth  would  become  a  desert  of  burn¬ 
ing  sand.  If  they  were  much  diminished,  it  would 
be  desolate  with  polar  snows.  All  these  adjust¬ 
ments,  by  which  the  intensest  heat  and  the  finest 
auras  are  connected  with  the  coarsest  mineral,  and 
rise  through  the  material  body  to  man’s  spiritual 
nature,  are  steps  by  which  the  Lord  comes  to  man, 
and  dwells  with  him. 

Now  let  us  apply  these  purposes  and  universal 
methods  of  divine  operation  to  the  Lord’s  relations 
to  man  as  a  spiritual  being.  At  the  time  of  the  ad¬ 
vent,  man  had  become  separated  from  the  Lord  in 
the  higher  planes  of  His  nature,  by  falsity  and  sin. 
He  was  like  a  branch  broken  from  a  vine,  and  con¬ 
nected  with  it  only  by  the  bark.  As  he  is  so  often 
described  in  the  Word,  man  was  spiritually  blind 
and  deaf.  He  could  not  see  truth  in  its  spiritual 


209 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST? 

form ;  he  could  not  hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord  as 
He  spoke  by  the  mouth  of  prophet  and  psalmist. 
The  Lord  had  come  to  man  in  the  form  of  an  angel. 
He  had  sent  Moses  and  David  and  Elias,  but  they 
had  been  rejected.  What  then  could  He  do  ?  If  He 
remained  aloof,  man  would  inevitably  perish.  He 
could  not  send  His  message  by  another,  for  neither 
angel  nor  man  could  deliver  it.  He  could  not 
come  in  His  own  unclothed  divinity,  for  that  would 
consume  man.  He  could  only  come  by  assuming  a 
nature  similar  to  man’s  nature.  If  a  blind  and  deaf 
man  has  wandered  from  the  path,  and  is  groping  his 
way  toward  a  precipice,  we  cannot  warn  him  of  his 
danger  by  calling  to  him  ;  our  voice  cannot  reach 
him.  We  cannot  point  out  the  destruction  before 
him,  for  he  cannot  see  it.  We  cannot  reach  him 
with  the  eye.  It  would  be  useless  to  send  a  blind 
man  after  him.  There  is  only  one  resource  left. 
We  must  go  to  him  physically.  Our  love  and 
wisdom  must  become  incarnated ;  we  must  have  a 
material  hand  to  grasp  his  hand.  In  this  way  only 
can  we  be  with  him,  and  bring  our  power  to  bear 
upon  him  for  his  salvation. 

This  was  man’s  relation  to  the  Lord.  The  Lord 
could  not  reach  him  by  angels;  He  could  not  reach 
him  by  man  ;  he  could  not  reach  him  in  His  own 


210 


C/I  A  UNCE  V  GILES. 


unclothed  divinity.  He  must  clothe  His  divine 
with  a  human  nature;  He  must  invest  His  divin-e 
arm  with  an  arm  of  flesh;  He  must  bring  His  truth 
down  to  man’s  capacity  of  reception  ;  he  must  come 
to  his  senses.  That  was  the  ground  man  occupied, 
and  it  was  the  only  ground  on  which  the  Lord 
could  meet  him,  and  be  with  him. 

By  coming  to  man  on  the  physical  plane  of  his 
existence,  and  dwelling  with  him,  the  Lord  gained 
recognition.  The  divine  controlled  the  human,  and 
shone  through  it  with  sufficient  clearness  and  power 
to  awaken  attention,  and  suggest  that  He  was  more 
than  a  man.  It  is  true  this  recognition  of  the  di¬ 
vine  in  the  guise  of  the  human  was  obscure  at  first. 
He  was  liable  to  be  mistaken  by  men  for  a  man  like 
themselves,  and  nothing  more  ;  or  if  they  regarded 
Him  as  a  Divine  Being,  they  were  in  danger  of  con 
eluding  that  a  Divine  Being  was  nothing  more  than 
what  they  saw  Him  to  be.  These  mistakes  were 
made,  and  are  made  to  this  day.  But  this  danger 
was  unavoidable.  There  was  no  other  way  of  get¬ 
ting  hold  of  man.  The  Lord  must  come  into  the 
world  as  all  men  come.  He  must  stand  with  man 
shoulder  to  shoulder;  He  must  labor  with  him,  and 
eat  with  him  ;  He  must  rejoice  and  weep  with  him, 
live  with  him,  and  die  with  Him,  as  one  man  with 
another. 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST? 


21  I 


He  did  this;  and  by  doing  it  an  immense  step 
was  gained.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  conceive,  unless  we 
are  familiar  with  the  doctrines  of  modern  scientists 
and  the  apostles  of  science,  how  dim  and  erroneous 
were  the  conceptions  of  God  at  the  time  of  His  ad¬ 
vent.  To  come  to  man,  therefore,  and  reveal  Him¬ 
self  as  a  personal  being  in  the  human  form,  and  in 
this  way  to  gain  a  lodgment  in  history  and  litera¬ 
ture,  was  to  bridge  the  gulf  between  God  and  man,, 
and  provide  a  medium  for  the  communication  of 
His  life  to  us.  He  steps  out  from  the  blinding 
effulgence  of  His  glory,  draws  the  veil  of  flesh  over 
His  face,  upon  which  unveiled  no  man  can  look  and 
live,  and  comes  as  a  man  among  men.  From  an  in¬ 
finite  somewhat  He  becomes  a  Someone  of  whom 
men  can  think.  He  is  not  merely  abstract  love,  wis¬ 
dom,  power.  He  is  a  personal  being  in  the  human 
form,  who  loves,  is  wise,  and  whose  heart  overflows 
with  human  sympathy. 

This  coming  in  the  flesh,  however,  was  only  a 
means  to  a  higher  purpose,  and  that  was  that  He 
might  come  to  man’s  spiritual  nature  to  illuminate 
his  understanding,  and  revivify  his  spiritual  affec¬ 
tions.  He  came  in  the  only  way  of  approach  left 
open  to  Him,  and  in  the  only  form  in  which  He 
could  be  recognized  by  man,  and  when  He  had 


212 


CHA  UNCE  V  GILES. 


gained  recognition  in  the  lowest  form,  He  began  to 
ascend  to  a  higher  plane  of  man’s  mind,  and  to 
manifest  the  divine  attributes  of  His  own  nature. 
He  showed  men  how  a  being  of  infinite  love  and 
wisdom  lives  when  environed  with  human  condi¬ 
tions.  God  comes  to  us,  takes  upon  Himself  our 
nature,  invests  Himself  with  human  infirmities,  and 
demonstrates  by  manifold  examples  how  the  Highest 
acts  in  the  lowest  plane  of  life. 

This  gives  to  His  example  a  significance  and 
power  immeasurably  greater  than  it  would  have 
possessed  if  Jesus  Christ  had  been  only  a  more 
highly  endowed  man  like  ourselves.  It  carries  an 
infinite  force  with  it.  It  tends  to  reverse,  not  only 
all  our  ideas  of  the  divine  character,  but  gives  us  a 
new  standard  of  a  noble  human  life.  He  shows  us 
how  God  lives  when  He  is  in  the  same  plane  of  life 
as  men  are.  How  humble  He  was!  He  was  born 
in  a  manger;  He  was  obedient  to  His  earthly 
parents;  He  associated  with  publicans  and  sinners; 
He  lived  a  most  simple  and  unobtrusive  life;  He 
went  about  doing  good,  healing  the  sick,  feeding 
the  hungry,  teaching  the  ignorant,  and  in  manifold 
ways  ministering  to  human  necessities;  He  was 
gentle,  pure,  tender,  sympathizing  and  helpful  to 
all  who  would  receive  help  from  Him.  When  John 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST? 


213 


sent  his  disciples  to  learn  whether  Jesus  was  the 
Messiah  or  not,  He  sent  back  these  remarkable 
evidences  of  His  divinity:  “  In  that  same  hour  He 
cured  many  of  their  infirmities  and  plagues,  and  of 
evil  spirits;  and  unto  many  blind  He  gave  sight. 
Then  Jesus  answering,  said  unto  them,  Go  your 
way,  and  tell  John  what  things  ye  have  seen  and 
heard-;  how  that  the  blind  see;  the  lame  walk;  the 
lepers  are  cleansed ;  the  deaf  hear  ;  the  dead  are 
raised  ;  to  the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached.”  This 
is  the  way  the  Lord  works  when  He  becomes  God 
with  men. 

Think  what  He  who  stilled  the  tempest,  who 
multiplied  the  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  to  food 
sufficient  for  hungry  thousands,  who  healed  the 
sick,  and  raised  the  dead,  and  who  read  the  hearts 
of  all  men  like  an  open  book,  think  what  an  empire 
He  could  have  established.  He  could  have  sub¬ 
dued  all  nations  to  His  sway.  By  the  fiat  of  His 
will  He  could  have  raised  palaces  and  temples  sur¬ 
passing  in  beauty,  glory  and  magnificence  all  the 
possibilities  of  human  conception.  He  could  have 
lived  in  a  luxury  and  grandeur  compared  with  which 
all  the  splendor  of  imperial  courts  would  be  low  and 
rude.  That  was  the  Jewish  conception  of  God  ;  that 
was  what  they  expected  the  Messiah  to  be.  And 


21 4 


CIIA  UNCE  V  GILES. 


because  He  did  not  answer  to  their  expectations 
they  crucified  Him.  That  is  man’s  idea  of  honor, 
power  and  glory.  But  it  is  not  the  divine  idea. 
God  with  men  takes  upon  Himself  the  form  of  a 
servant ;  He  works  in  the  lowest  conditions  ;  He 
was  poorer  than  the  foxes.  They  have  holes,  and 
the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man 
had  not  where  to  lay  His  head.  By  His  example 
He  gave  to  man  a  true  picture  of  a  divine  life  in  the 
most  humble  conditions. 

But  the  Lord  desired  to  be  with  men  in  the  higher 
planes  of  life,  in  those  faculties  which  are  distinctly 
human.  He  came  a  light  into  the  world  to  lead  men 
back  to  heaven;  He  came  to  be  with  man  in  his 
reason  and  understanding.  Accordingly  we  find 
Him  constantly  engaged  in  teaching  ;  and  He  did 
this  in  an  infinitely  wise  way.  He  brought  truth 
down  to  man’s  capacity ;  He  taught  him  in  para¬ 
bles  ;  he  illustrated  the  highest  spiritual  truths  by 
the  most  familiar  events ;  he  met  man  on  the  com¬ 
mon  ground  of  his  thinking,  and  brought  the  di¬ 
vine  mind  into  contact  with  the  human  mind  in  its 
lowest  state.  By  so  doing  He  kindled  a  spiritual 
light  in  the  understanding. 

This  simplicity  and  adaptation  of  divine  truth  to 
the  mental  condition  of  men  is  one  of  the  most 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST? 


215 


beautiful  and  touching  excellencies  of  His  ministry, 
and  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  of  His  divine 
character.  By  coming  to  men  where  they  were 
mentally,  entering  into  their  thought,  dwelling  with 
them  in  their  ignorance  and  spiritual  darkness,  He 
awakened  sympathy,  excited  attention,  and  under 
the  guise  of  natural  truths  and  familiar  sayings,  He 
lodged  spiritual  and  divine  truths  in  their  minds. 

We  can  easily  conceive  that  He  might  have 
spoken  in  a  manner  that  would  have  excited  the 
admiration  of  the  world.  Yet  He  sung  no  song  to 
charm  the  ear  of  men  with  its  melody.  He  could 
have  surpassed  in  eloquence  all  the  orators  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  but  He  delivered  no  oration  to  arouse 
the  passions,  and  captivate  by  its  power.  He  talked 
of  lilies  and  cornfields*  of  fishing  and  household 
service.  He  came  to  men  on  the  level  of  their 
thought,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  them  above  that 
level.  He  knew  the  secrets  of  nature,  and  yet  He 
did  not  teach  science;  He  established  no  school 
of  philosophy;  He  did  not  even  draw  up  a  system 
of  doctrine.  To  do  any  of  these  things  would  have 
been  to  work  in  a  region  above  human  thought  as 
it  then  existed.  He  would  not  have  been  “  with 
men.”  He  did  not  work  like  an  ambitious  man  ;  He 
worked  like  a  God,  and,  therefore,  He  adapted  His 
teaching  to  meet  man’s  universal  wants. 


CHA  UNCE  V  GILES. 


2l6 

But  men  maybe  taught  and  raised  into  the  heaven 
of  intellectual  light,  and  still  not  be  benefited  by  the 
truth.  Jehovah  assumed  a  human  nature  that  He 
might  be  God  with  men  in  their  hearts.  We  are 
never  thoroughly  and  securely  with  another  until 
heart  meets  heart.  God  cannot  be  with  men,  with 
the  essential  human  principle  in  man,  until  He  gains 
entrance  into  their  affections.  His  love  must  be¬ 
come  our  love,  and  our  love  must  become  His  love. 
There  must  be  a  reciprocal  union  of  affection. 
When  this  takes  place,  and  only  then,  is  the  Lord 
really  with  man. 

To  awaken  this  love  in  our  hearts  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  that  His  love  should  take  on  a  form  that  would 
touch  us  and  awaken  sympathy.  We  cannot  love 
an  abstraction  ;  our  affections  are  not  called  into 
play  by  an  Almighty  force;  our  hearts  do  not  grow 
warm  at  the  thought  of  a  universal  but  invisible 
presence.  We  can  form  no  conception  of  infinite 
love  until  it  takes  on  a  human  nature. 

This  is  what  the  Lord  did  in  the  incarnation. 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  form  of  that  love  brought 
down  even  to  the  senses.  He  sympathized  with 
suffering  in  every  form,  and  was  always  active  in 
relieving  it;  He  was  patient  and  tender  with  the 
erring;  His  soul  was  touched  with  man’s  infirmi- 


WHO  WAS  JESUS  CHRIST ? 


21  7 


ties,  and  pierced  with  his  sorrows;  He  wept  at  the 
grave  of  Lazarus;  His  heart  yearned  with  the  ten- 
derest  pity  over  Jerusalem;  He  prayed  for  those 
who  crucified  Him.  Every  act  of  His  life  was  a 
form  of  His  love.  By  these  deeds  of  love  the  di¬ 
vine  heart  was  brought  into  contact  with  the  human 
heart,  and  the  river  of  life  which  issues  from  the 
divine  love,  and  makes  everything  live  whitherso¬ 
ever  it  cometh,  began  to  flow  into  the  dead  souls  of 
men. 

The  human  nature  called  Jesus  Christ  was  the 
connecting  link  between  Jehovah,  the  infinite  I  Am, 
and  man  as  he  lay  in  his  fallen  state,  poor,  blind, 
deaf  and  dead  in  sin.  By  means  of  it  the  Lord  ap¬ 
proached  man,  came  into  his  conditions,  took  upon 
Himself  man’s  infirmities,  bore  His  burdens,  was 
tried  with  His  temptations.  He  was  with  him  as  a 
man  ;  He  was  with  him  as  a  God,  and  power  was 
constantly  going  out  from  Him  to  heal  his  spiritual 
diseases,  to  dispel  his  darkness,  to  give  liberty  to 
his  imprisoned  faculties,  to  revivify  his  spiritual 
affections.  He  came  as  a  God  to  dwell  with  us, 
that  He  might  raise  us  up  to  dwell  with  Him. 

From  whatever  point  of  view  we  regard  the  ques¬ 
tion,  we  are  logically  led  to  the  conclusion,  that  Jesus 
Christ,  strictly  discriminated  from  the  Divine  before 


218 


CHA  UNCE  Y  GILES. 


the  Incarnation,  was  the  human  nature  which  Jeho¬ 
vah  assumed,  that  by  means  of  it  He  might  bridge 
the  gulf  between  Himself  and  man  in  his  fallen 
state  ;  come  to  him  in  a  form  adapted  to  his  weak 
and  perverted  condition ;  save  him  from  his  sins, 
and  raise  him  up  to  everlasting  life.  But  regarded 
in  the  whole  range  of  His  being,  from  its  centre  to 
its  circumference,  He  was  Jehovah  Himself  clothed 
with  a  moral  and  intellectual  human  nature,  which 
was  also  invested  with  a  material  body.  The  con¬ 
senting  voice  of  the  whole  of  Scripture,  when  un¬ 
derstood,  avers  this  truth  ;  the  nature  of  infinite 
love  and  wisdom  leads  inevitably  to  this  conclusion  ; 
man’s  lost  condition,  and  the  means  necessary  to 
his  salvation,  demand  it.  It  reconciles  the  Unity  of 
God  with  the  Trinity  in  His  nature,  and  solves  the 
most  difficult  problem  in  religious  truth.  Jesus 
Christ  was  Emmanuel,  God  with  us.  In  His  di¬ 
vine  person,  therefore,  we  have  the  Father,  Son 
and  Holy  Spirit.  We  have  one  Lord  in  a  form 
adapted  to  every  plane  and  state  of  human  con¬ 
sciousness,  who  is  the  First  and  the  Last,  the  only 
source  of  life,  the  only  Saviour,  and  the  only  proper 
object  of  worship. 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS. 


Bv  EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS,  D.  D. 


The  Gospel  by  St.  John,  12TH  Chap.,  32  v. — “and 

I,  IF  I  BE  LIFTED  UP  FROM  THE  EARTH,  WILL  DRAW  ALL 
MEN  UNTO  ME.” 

It  is  very  significantly  added  by  the  Evangelist, 
in  the  verse  following,  “  This  he  said,  signifying 
what  death  he  should  die.”  It  was  the  death  of 
the  Cross,  the  most  ignominious  and  painful  of  all 
forms  of  public  execution.  It  involved  the  deepest 
dishonor,  as  well  as  the  most  fearful  suffering.  It 
was  inflicted  only  on  the  meanest,  as  well  as  the 
worst  criminals. 

It  was  to  this  form  of  death,  this  being  “  lifted 
up”  on  the  cross,  that  Jesus  alludes,  and  claims 
that  thus  put  to  death,  he  will  exert  the  widest  and 
most  powerful  influence  on  men. 

The  mode  of  crucifixion  was  to  extend  the  victim 
upon  the  timbers,  as  they  were  laid  upon  the 
ground,  nailing  the  feet  to  the  upright,  and  the 


220 


EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 


hands  to  the  transverse  beam.  The  cross  was  then 
raised  from  the  earth  and  planted  firmly  in  an  ex¬ 
cavation  prepared  for  it,  while  the  unhappy  victim 
thus  lifted  up,  was  left  to  perish  by  the  steady 
wearing  pressure  of  bodily  torture.  This  was  the 
dreadful  fate  in  reserve  for  Jesus.  The  people  had 
attempted  to  stone  him  to  death,  but  he  was  not 
to  die  in  that  way.  He  was  to  be  lifted  up  ;  lifted 
up,  as  a  spectacle  to  heaven  and  earth  ;  lifted  up  in 
scorn  of  his  lofty  pretensions ;  in  derision  and  re¬ 
jection  of  his  claims  ;  in  hatred  and  revenge  by  his 
enemies,  and  thus,  was  his  brief  earthly  life  to  close. 
He  knew  it.  All  through  his  life  he  saw  the  cross 
before  him.  He  knew  perfectly  well,  what  his  fate 
was  to  be.  He  accepted  the  situation.  Keenly 
sensitive  in  body  and  soul  as  he  was,  both  to  physi¬ 
cal,  and  mental  anguish,  to  pain,  and  to  shame,  and 
to  sorrow,  he  looked  calmly  and  bravely  at  the 
terrible  scene  and  never  flinched.  It  was  to  be  to 
him,  not  an  hour  of  suffering  only,  but  an  hour  of 
triumph  ;  not  a  scene  of  shame  alone,  but  a  scene 
of  glory  too.  “Yes,”  said  he,  “I  am  going  to  the 
cross.  I  am  to  die  a  cursed  death.  I  am  to  be 
lifted,  up  as  a  malefactor,  to  a  cruel  and  a  disgrace¬ 
ful  end.  But  my  foes  will  all  be  disappointed. 
They  may  inflict  on  me  a  death  of  agony  and 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS. 


221 


shame.  They  may  hope  thus  to  destroy  my  influ¬ 
ence,  and  leave  my  memory  to  infamy.  They  may 
hope  thus  to  brand  me  as  an  impostor,  and  make 
my  teaching  of  no  effect  in  the  world.  They  will 
be  baffled.  My  death  will  only  be  the  beginning 
of  my  triumph.  From  the  very  hour  of  my  cruci¬ 
fixion,  the  power  of  my  gospel  will  be  manifested, 
and  my  kingdom  will  begin  its  reign.  Yes!  lift  me 
up  on  the  bitter,  and  cursed  tree.  You  raise  me  to 
a  conqueror’s  throne.  Lift  me  up,  in  the  weakness, 
and  the  ignominy  of  a  felon,  and  a  slave.  It  will  be 
a  glorious  and  triumphant  exaltation.  For  I,  if  I 
be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me  !  ” 

There  have  been  many  brave  words  spoken  by 
dying  men,  but  none  like  these.  When  Sir  John 
Oldcastle  was  condemned  to  die  for  his  adherence 
to  the  truth  by  an  English  court,  he  said  to  his 
judges,  “Ye  judge  the  body,  which  is  but  a 
wretched  thing,  but  I  am  certain  ye  can  do  no  harm 
to  my  soul.  He  who  created  that,  will  of  his  own 
mercy  and  promise  save  it.  As  to  the  articles  of 
my  faith,  I  will  stand  to  them,  even  to  the  very 
death,  by  the  grace  of  my  Eternal  God.” 

When  Bishops  Latimer  and  Ridley  were  burned 
together  at  the  stake,  it  was  a  brave  word  which  one 
spoke  to  the  other. 


222 


EBENEZER  E.  ROGERS. 


“  Brother,  we  shall  this  day  light  such  a  flame  in 
England,  that  all  the  floods  of  heaven  shall  not  be 
able  to  put  it  out.”  That  was  a  true  prophecy. 

But  the  words  of  Jesus,  when  he  spoke  of  the 
death  which  he  was  about  to  die,  were  grander  than 
these.  It  was  not  a  single  country,  but  the  whole 
world  that  was  to  be  moved  by  that  death.  It  was 
not  merely  one  age,  but  all  the  coming  ages  down 
to  the  end  of  time,  that  were  to  bear  their  united, 
and  overwhelming  testimony  to  the  wonderful,  and 
irresistible  magnetism  of  the  cross. 

How  then  has  this  prophecy  been  fulfilled? 

We  reply,  It  has  been  fulfilled  in  the  history  of 
Christianity. 

What  are  the  simple  facts  of  that  history  ? 

Eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  Jesus  Christ  was 
born,  lived,  taught,  promulgated  a  system  of  truth 
and  morals,  suffered  and  died.  He  was  born  and 
lived  among  humble  surroundings,  gathered  round 
him  but  few  followers;  made  little  impression  upon 
his  own  age,  and  died  a  helpless  victim  in  the  hands 
of  his  foes. 

Judging  after  the  manner  of  men  and  outside  of 
the  records  of  history,  we  should  say,  that  in  the 
end  of  the  story,  Jesus  Christ  will  be  forgotten. 
For  a  little  while,  his  few  friends  may  recall  the 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS. 


223 


memories  of  his  life,  and  mourn  over  his  tragical 
death,  but  that  will  be  all.  After  the  lapse  of  a 
generation  his  very  name  will  be  forgotten,  and 
scarcely  a  vestige  of  his  system  will  remain  upon 
the  earth. 

Is  this  the  fact?  Fifty-five  generations  have  passed 
away,  and  there  is  no  name  which  exerts  such  an 
influence  in  the  world  to-day,  as  the  name  of  Him, 
who  was  lifted  up  on  the  cross.  It  is  associated 
with  the  most  advanced  civilization  ;  with  the  best 
and  most  enduring  literature ;  with  the  noblest 
forms  of  art ;  with  the  broadest  systems  of  educa¬ 
tion  ;  with  the  most  gigantic  enterprises  of  com¬ 
merce  ;  with  the  purest,  and  most  extended  institu¬ 
tions  of  philanthropy ;  with  the  most  refined  and 
healthful  social  progress  ;  and  in  fine,  with  every 
element  of  dignity,  prosperity  and  power,  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth. 

The  name  Christian,  which  was  at  first  given  to 
a  few  humble  individuals  in  an  Oriental  city,  as  a 
term  of  reproach,  is  now  blazoned  on  the  banners  of 
the  greatest  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  borne  with 
pride  by  the  peoples  who  rule  the  world.  The 
cross,  once  an  emblem  of  shame  and  reproach,  and 
guilt,  is  now  a  symbol  of  what  is  pure  and  honorable, 
and  sacred,  among  the  most  advanced,  and  powerful 


224 


EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 


nations  of  the  earth.  It  gleams  from  the  spires  and 
towers  of  innumerable  temples  of  Christian  worship. 
It  is  borne  on  the  diadems  of  the  most  illustrious 
kings.  Beauty  wears  it  as  an  ornament.  Devotion 
bows  before  it,  on  the  altar.  It  has  given  shape,  and 
grandeur  to  the  proudest  specimens  of  modern 
architecture.  It  has  inspired  the  noblest  creations 
of  the  chisel  and  the  pencil.  It  has  kindled  in  hu¬ 
man  hearts,  the  most  heroic  sentiments.  It  has  led 
unnumbered  hosts  to  battle,  and  to  victory.  It  has 
inspired  more  martyrs,  than  Science,  or  Art,  or  Dis¬ 
covery,  or  Commerce,  or  any  great  interest  of  man¬ 
kind.  It  has  cheered  the  souls  of  the  dying,  and 
been  carved  by  loving  fingers,  over  the  tombs  of  the 
dead.  It  is  to-day  the  symbol  of  the  most  advanced 
forms  of  civilization,  the  most  liberal  systems  of 
government,  the  most  progressive  theories  of  human 
development,  the  purest  social  state,  and  the  most 
practical  and  successful  endeavors  for  the  ameliora¬ 
tion  of  human  suffering,  and  the  extension  of  hu¬ 
man  happiness.  A  man  must  be  blind,  and  deaf, 
and  idiotic,  who  can  look  over  the  world  and  deny 
that  this  is  the  history,  and  this  the  present  position 
of  Christianity. 

It  is  not  then  too  much  to  say,  that  the  words  of 
Jesus  Christ,  uttered  in  view  of  his  death  upon  the 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS. 


225 


cross,  “  and  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me,”  have  really  been  fulfilled  in  the  history 
of  Christianity.  The  prophecy  was  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  cross,  or  in  other  words,  the  great  doctrine  of 
the  Atonement,  should  be  the  greatest  moral  power 
in  the  universe.  The  prediction  was  that  this  suffering 
dying  Saviour  should  be  the  centre  of  attraction  to 
the  world,  and  that  an  influence  should  emanate 
from  his  cross,  which  should  eventually  bring  the 
whole  world  under  its  sway.  It  was,  as  if  he  had 
said,  “You  may  hang  me  on  a  cross  ;  you  may  lift 
me  up  between  heaven  and  earth,  but  in  so  doing, 
you  will  make  me  the  grand  centre  of  universal  and 
permanent  attraction  among  men.  I  shall  not  die. 
My  name  will  never  be  forgotten.  No  name  will  be 
so  well  known  by  all  mankind.  No  name  will  ex¬ 
cite  so  much  interest,  provoke  so  much  discussion, 
arouse  so  much  opposition,  awaken  so  much  enthu¬ 
siasm,  kindle  so  much  devotion,  and  be  so  constant¬ 
ly  on  the  lips  of  men.  No  story  will  be  so  deeply 
incorporated  into  the  literature  of  all  ages,  will  be 
told  in  so  many  of  the  languages  of  the  earth,  will 
be  the  theme  of  so  much  comment,  will  excite  so 
much  emotion,  and  be  so  carefully  handed  down 
from  generation  to  generation.” 

Is  not  all  this  true?  What  man  of  ordinary  in- 


226 


EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 


telligence  will  deny  it  ?  There  is  a  day  in  the 
Christian  calendar  known  emphatically  as  “  The 
Lord’s  Day.”  On  that  day,  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  the  name  of  Jesus,  the  crucified  one,  is  on 
millions  of  tongues.  Mothers  speak  it  to  their  chil¬ 
dren  ;  preachers  discourse  upon  it  to  crowds  of 
hearers ;  in  every  known  and  read  language,  it  is  im¬ 
pressed  upon  the  printed  page  :  it  is  chanted  in  holy 
psalms,  sung  in  glorious  anthems;  breathed  in  fer¬ 
vent  prayers,  adored  with  the  most  impassioned 
fervor  of  the  soul.  On  the  Lord’s  day,  everywhere, 
amid  the  Arctic  frosts,  or  the  Equatorial  heats, 
among  the  sands  of  the  deserts,  and  the  isles  of  the 
sea,  this  name  of  Christ,  this  story  of  the  cross,  is 
spoken,  and  the  sun,  in  his  radiant  course  around 
the  world,  witnessess  the  universal  homage  paid  to 
Him,  who  was  lifted  up  on  the  tree,  and  who  then 
predicted  that  his  cross  would  be  the  grand  mag¬ 
netic  centre  of  the  creation  of  God. 

But  we  do  not  look  merely  to  the  external  his¬ 
tory  of  Christianity,  and  its  progress  through  the 
ages,  for  the  proof  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  signifi¬ 
cant  prophecy  of  the  text.  There  is  a  history  of 
the  world  which  is  not  recorded  in  massive  volumes, 
or  gathered  into  great  libraries,  or  connected  with 
the  movements  of  nations,  and  the  growth  of  insti- 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS. 


227 


tutions.  A  very  important  part  of  it  is  found  in 
the  records  of  individuals,  in  the  varied  but  truthful 
annals  of  human  experience. 

Christ,  and  his  cross  have  made  their  deepest 
marks,  on  individual  hearts,  and  have  had  much  to 
do  in  shaping  human  experience.  Men  have  been 
drawn  to  Christ  in  the  great  crises  -of  their  lives  ; 
in  the  deep  waters  through  which  they  were  called 
to  pass ;  when  they  could  find  help  from  no  other 
source;  comfort  from  no  other  name.  When  con¬ 
science  has  been  aroused  in  the  human  breast,  and 
a  sense  of  guilt,  and  a  fear  of  retribution,  have 
pressed  heavily  on  the  soul ;  when  men  have  felt 
that  they  needed  deliverance  from  sin  and  accept¬ 
ance  with  God,  then  this  attractive  power  of  the 
crucified  Christ  has  been  profoundly  felt.  And  the 
universality  of  this  attraction,  of  which  Jesus  speaks 
in  the  text,  is  illustrated  by  the  fact,  that  men  of 
all  nations,  of  all  classes,  of  all  shades  of  moral 
character,  and  all  peculiarities  of  spiritual  experi¬ 
ence  have  gone  to  Him  and  his  cross,  for  the  supply 
which  they  needed  in  their  urgent  necessity,  their 
fearful  danger,  their  felt  sin,  and  the  anguish  of 
their  convicted  souls.  Everywhere,  in  all  ages,  the 
cross  has  appealed  to  that  sense  of  need,  which  con¬ 
viction  of  sin  has  always  awakened  in  the  mind. 


228 


EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 


Here,  its  power  has  been  marvelously  illustrated. 
It  has  revealed  a  way  of  justification  for  the  con¬ 
demned,  of  pardon  for  the  guilty,  and  of  salvation 
for  the  lost,  through  the  atoning  death  and  merits 
of  a  representative  Saviour,  who  “  died,  the  just  for 
the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God.”  It  has 
revealed  the  great  truth  to  the  faith  of  millions, 
that,  “  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whoever  believeth  in  Him, 
should  not  perish,  but  might  have  everlasting  life.” 
It  has  solved  the  great  problem,  “  How  shall  man 
be  just  with  God?”  by  revealing  the  method, 
“  Therefore,  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,”  for  “the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin.” 

This  prophecy  of  the  text  was  illustrated  even 
while  Jesus  was  actually  hanging  on  the  cross.  By 
his  side  there  hung  a  man  who  was  a  representative 
man,  not  perhaps  in  all  the  outward  peculiarities, 
and  details  of  his  character  and  history,  but  in  those 
soul  needs  which  are  radical  and  vital  with  us  all, 
and  which  sooner  or  later  assert  themselves  with 
tremendous  power.  He  was  meeting  the  stern 
realities  of  the  dying  hour,  without  preparation,  and 
without  hope.  He  was  a  guilty  man,  on  the  verge 


JTHE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS.  229 

of  the  eternal  world.  He  stood  where  all  men 
must  stand.  The  great  need  of  his  soul  was  the 
need  of  all,  pardon,  hope,  peace.  Upon  his  eye  fast 
closing  on  earthly  scenes,  dawned  a  vision  of  the 
patient,  heroic  sufferer  by  his  side,  whose  words  it 
may  be,  he  had  heard  in  days  gone  by,  and  his  faith 
then  and  there  grasped  the  truth  that  He  was  a 
Saviour,  who  was  “  mighty  to  save.”  And  with  his  last 
breath  he  prayed  to  him  with  a  brief  petition,  but 
so  comprehensive,  “  Lord,  remember  me,  when  thou 
comest  in  thy  kingdom.”  How  was  it,  that  this 
guilty,  dying  man  felt  such  a  drawing  to  Jesus,  in 
that  awful  hour?  How  was  it,  that  in  that  dying 
sufferer  by  his  side,  he  recognized  one  who  could 
help  him  in  his  extremity  ?  Ah  !  this  was  already 
the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  of  my  text,  “  and  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.”  This 
sinful,  dying  man  felt  the  strange  power  of  the  mag¬ 
netism  of  Christ.  He  felt  the  pressure  of  the  bur¬ 
den  of  sin.  He  felt  his  lost  and  helpless  condition, 
and  cast  himself  on  Jesus,  yielding  all  his  being  up 
to  his  attraction,  and  clinging  as  with  the  gripe  of 
death,  to  him  alone  for  salvation.  And  he  found  all 
that  he  needed,  in  Christ.  Even  at  the  moment 
when  Death’s  icy  hand  was  to  be  laid  on  his  heart, 
to  stop  the  tumultuous  flow  of  its  blood,  and  the 


230 


EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 


stormy  current  of  its  passion,  turning  to  Jesus  in 
humble,  penitent  pleading,  he  found  the  peace 
which  he  craved  in  those  blessed  words,  “To-day, 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.” 

How  many  times  has  this  history  been  repeated, 
in  the  eighteen  hundred  years  since  Jesus,  being 
lifted  up,  began  to  draw  all  men  unto  him  !  What 
multitudes  of  men,  weary,  heavy  laden  with  sin  and 
with  sorrow,  have  gone  to  him  for  rest.  How  many 
like  the  jailer  at  Philippi,  have  asked,  “  What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved?”  and  found  a  strange,  divine  sig¬ 
nificance  in  the  simple  answer,  “  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.”  Men 
of  the  city,  and  men  of  the  forest ;  men  coming  like 
Nicodemus,  in  the  shadow  of  the  night,  or  crying 
like  Bartimens,  in  the  glare  of  the  noon-day,  “Jesus, 
thou  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me,”  have  alike 
been  drawn  to  Him,  who  was  lifted  up,  and  found 

in  him  just  the  Saviour  whom  they  needed.  The 

•  * 

name  of  this  crucified  One  has  been  the  name 
above  every  other  name  to  bring  peace  and  comfort 
to  the  soul,  when  wearied  with  the  burden  of  sin, 
it  sought  for  rest. 

Yes!  Jesus  has  drawn  sinful  men  to  him,  through 
all  these  years,  with  a  mighty  attraction.  It  is  won¬ 
derful  what  a  power  there  has  been  in  the  simple 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS. 


23I 


story  of  the  cross,  to  win  men  from  all  their  impeni¬ 
tence,  and  carelessnsss,  and  folly,  and  idolatries,  and 
give  them  peace,  and  comfort,  and  purity,  and  hope. 
No  story  of  any  other  death  has  had  such  power. 
No  name  has  ever  so  won  its  way  into  the  deepest 
recesses  of  human  hearts.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Atonement  as  “  a  satisfaction  to  the  ethical  na¬ 
ture  of  God,”  as  a  vicarious  offering  to  law  and 
justice,  has  met  the  wants  of  the  convicted  soul 
as  no  other  doctrine  ever  has  ;  and  while  no  doctrine 
has  been  so  criticised,  so  opposed,  so  maligned,  and 
so  denied,  still  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  the  story  of 
the  cross,  have  been  a  great  power  in  the  earth  for 
all  these  centuries.  That  wondrous  message  . spoken 
so  long  ago  by  Him  who  was  lifted  up,  is  still  echo¬ 
ing  through  the  world,  and  thousands  of  heavy 
hearts  grow  lighter  at  the  sound,  “  Come  unto  me, 
all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest.” 

This  great  prophecy  of  the  text  has  been  illus¬ 
trated,  not  only  in  the  history  of  sin,  but  in  that  of 
sorrow.  Jesus,  and  his  cross,  have  had  a  divine 
power  to  comfort  the  mourner. 

Since  the  world  was  made,  men  have  been 
brothers  in  suffering. 

“  The  fool  hath  said,  there  is  no  God, 

But  none,  there  is  no  sorrow.” 


232  EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 

To  ameliorate  human  suffering,  and  assuage  human 
grief,  has  been  a  great  study  of  wise  men  and  phil¬ 
anthropists  ever  since  sorrow  followed  in  the  train 
of  sin.  Philosophers  and  moralists,  and  orators 
and  poets,  and  teachers  of  every  variety,  in  all  ages, 
have  tried  to  discover  some  adequate  solace  for 
human  woe.  What  volumes  have  been  written, 
what  orations  have  been  pronounced,  what  counsels 
have  been  published  on  this  theme,  so  old  and 
hackneyed,  yet  so  constant,  and  imperative. 

And  how  little  have  all  these  done,  to  lighten  the 
burdens  which  rest  on  sorrowful  souls.  All  that 
they  could  do  was  to  inculcate  the  cold  lessons  of 
stoicism,  or  urge  men  to  a  blind  and  reluctant  sub¬ 
mission  to  the  decrees  of  an  inevitable,  and  irresisti¬ 
ble  fate.  “  Why  do  you  weep  since  tears  are  una¬ 
vailing?”  said  one  to  Solon,  as  he  mourned  at  the 
bier  of  his  child.  “  It  is  for  that  very  reason  that  I 
weep,”  was  the  heart-broken  father’s  reply. 

How  different  are  the  ministrations  of  Christ,  to 
mourners.  He  too  says  to  the  widow,  “  Weep  not,” 
but  not  in  the  cold  words  of  unfeeling  stoicism.  He 
says  to  the  bereaved  father,  at  the  grave  of  his  son, 
to  the  mother,  as  with  a  heart  throbbing  with  an¬ 
guish  she  bends  over  her  dying  babe,  “  I  am  the 
resurrection,  and  the  life  ;  he  that  believeth  in  me, 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS.  233 

though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  whoever 
liveth  and  believeth  in  me,  shall  never  die.”  He 
says,  “  In  my  Father’s  house  are  many  mansions,” 
and  “  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes.” 
Thus  his  ministrations  are  not  those  of  a  philosopher 
or  a  mere  teacher,  but  of  a  living,  and  sympathizing 
friend  and  helper,  bringing  to  the  afflicted,  revela¬ 
tions  which  are  full  of  practical  power  to  help  and 
comfort. 

How  many  has  this  lifted  One  drawn  to  himself 
by  the  power  of  his  sympathy?  “  For  since  he 
himself  hath  also  suffered  being  tempted,  (or  tried), 
he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted.”  Could 
we  invade  the  sacred  privacy  of  the  sad  home  ;  could 
we  draw  aside  the  veil  which  hangs  over  many  a 
sorrowful  heart,  we  could  show  you  how  Christ,  the 
suffering  Saviour,  has  drawn  to  him  multitudes  of 
sorrowful  souls,  by  a  magnetism  all  his  own.  There 
are  hosts  of  sufferers  to-day,  of  all  ranks,  and  peculi¬ 
arities  of  trial,  who  are  deriving  comfort,  and 
strength,  and  power  of  heroic  endurance,  from  their 
simple  faith  in  a  crucified  Christ.  And  there  are 
also  many  for  whom  this  world  has  done  its  best, 
who  are  restless,  and  sad,  and  comfortless,  only  be¬ 
cause  they  have  not  yielded  themselves  to  the  at¬ 
traction  of  the  cross,  and  gone  to  Jesus  for  rest. 


234 


EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 


If  the  Christian  religion  had  furnished  no  other 
proof  of  its  divine  origin,  and  its  superhuman  adap¬ 
tations  to  the  deepest  wants  of  men,  than  its  ability 
to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  and  dry  the  mourner’s 
tear,  this  alone  would  have  proved  that  it  came 
from  a  living  God,  and  this  would  have  amply  vin¬ 
dicated  the  declaration  of  our  Lord,  “  And  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.” 

May  it  not  then  be  said,  that  the  words  which 
Jesus  spoke,  when  the  vision  of  his  fearful  and 
shameful  death  upon  the  cross,  dawned  with  fright¬ 
ful  distinctness  upon  his  sight,  have  had,  and  are 
daily  having  a  wonderful  fulfillment.  May  it  not 
be  said,  that  the  steady  onward  progress  of  Christi¬ 
anity  itself  during  the  centuries  ;  its  connection  with 
the  broadest  civilization,  the  best  literature,  the 
noblest  art,  the  purest  forms  of  government,  with 
the  most  useful  philanthropic  institutions,  and  in 
fine,  with  the  most  valuable  influences  which  exalt 
and  adorn  the  social  state ;  may  it  not  be  said  that 
all  these  patent  and  palpable  facts  of  history  have 
verified  his  words? 

May  it  not  also  be  said  that  the  fact,  that  indi¬ 
vidual  men  of  all  nations,  ages,  circumstances,  have 
been  drawn  to  the  cross  of  Jesus,  to  find  in  the 
great  truth  of  atonement  by  that  sufferer  for  human 


THE  MAGNETISM  OF  THE  CROSS.  235 

guilt,  a  source  of  hope  and  pardon,  and  peace,  when 
burdened  with  a  sense  of  sin,  and  a  fear  of  retribu¬ 
tion,  which  was  to  be  found  nowhere  else,  proves 
that  those  words  were  not  an  idle  boast,  but  that 
there  is  a  power  in  the  cross  of  Christ  to  save  men 
from  their  sins?  And  may  it  not  be  said,  that  the 
equally  well  attested  fact,  that  since  the  world  be¬ 
came  a  place  of  sin,  and  sorrow,  and  pain  and  death, 
nothing  has  had  such  power  to  comfort  the  sorrow¬ 
ful,  and  take  away  the  fear  of  death,  and  give  men 
the  power  of  heroic  endurance  under  every  form  of 
trial,  as  simple  faith  in  a  crucified  Christ,  equally 
verifies  these  wonderful  words,  and  establishes  the 
truth  of  this  prophetic  declaration  ? 

And  if  so,  who  then  was  that  Being,  who  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago,  declared,  “  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me?”  Who  was  that 
Being  whose  cross  of  agony  and  shame,  has  thus 
become  a  throne  of  triumph  and  of  glory  ?  Who  is 
it,  who  has  thus  drawn  all  men  unto  him  ?  What 
other  sufferer  has  ever  exerted  such  a  power  ? 
What  other  sacrifice  has  had  such  a  wondrous 
efficiency?  Is  not  “the  broad  bright  signet  of  di¬ 
vinity,”  thus  stamped  upon  the  person  and  the  work 
of  Christ  ?  And  may  we  not  say,  as  we  contemplate 
this  whole  history  of  the  death  of  Christ,  his  own 


336  EBENEZER  P.  ROGERS. 

prediction  of  its  result,  and  the  wonderful  fulfill¬ 
ment  of  that  prediction  for  eighteen  hundred  years, 
may  we  not  say  in  the  words  of  the  venerable  Synod 
of  Dort,*  “Wherefore  we  justly  say  with  the 
Apostle  Paul,  that  we  ‘knew  nothing  but  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified  ;  we  count  all  things  but 
loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus,  our  Lord,’  in  whose  wounds  we  find  all  man¬ 
ner  of  consolation.  Neither  is  it  necessary  to  seek 
or  invent  any  other  means  of  being  reconciled  to 
God  than  this  only  sacrifice,  once  offered,  by  which 
believers  are  made  perfect  forever.  This  is  also  the 
the  reason  why  he  was  called  by  the  angel  of  God, 
JESUS,  that  is  to  say,  Saviour,  because  he  should 
save  his  people  from  their  sins.” 


*  Confession  of  Faith,  Art.  XXI. 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR. 


BY  CHARLES  S.  ROBINSON,  D.  D. 


“  Then  flew  one  of  the  seraphim  unto  me,  having 

A  LIVE  COAL  IN  HIS  HAND,  WHICH  HE  HAD  TAKEN  WITH 
THE  TONGS  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR.” - ISAIAH  VI.,  6. 

If  the  Rabbins  are  to  be  trusted,  Isaiah  was  of 
noble  lineage  and  high  consideration  in  the  nation. 
They  tell  us  his  father  was  own  brother  to  Uzziah, 
the  then  reigning  king.  But  Jehovah  is  no  respecter 
of  persons.  This  nephew  of  a  monarch  must  be  in¬ 
structed  in  the  true  majesty  of  the  one  Monarch  of 
heaven,  ere  he  could  be  suffered  to  go  on  His  errands 
to  the  children  of  men. 

In  this  vision  Isaiah  looked  upon  that  awful  form 
of  Deity,  seated  in  glory  within  the  mysterious  re¬ 
cesses  of  the  Holy  of  Holies.  Around  Him  were 
the  seraphim,  waving  wings  of  flame,  singing  a  re¬ 
sponsive  song:  “Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  of 
Hosts;  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  His  glory.”  At 
this,  the  brave  prophet  was  thoroughly  subdued 
And  even  as  with  rapt  spirit  he  looked  upon  the 


CHARLES  S, .  ROBINSON . 


scene,  the  foundations  of  the  edifice  seemed  to 
move,  and  the  clouds  of  incense  came  rolling  into 
the  room.  This  proved  too  much  for  his  endur¬ 
ance;  he  fell  on  his  face  in  the  depths  of  irrepres¬ 
sible  emotion.  What  he  thought,  he  tells  us  in  his 
cry:  “Then  said  I,  Woe  is  me!  for  I  am  undone; 
because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in 
the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips :  for  mine  eyes 
have  seen  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts.” 

We  raise  this  question — Just  what  was  it  that 
agitated  Isaiah  in  this  way  ?  The  words  here  trans¬ 
lated,  “  I  am  undone,”  are  rendered  in  the  margin, 
“  I  am  cut  off ;”  and  the  Septuagint  version  gives 
them,  “  I  am  pierced  through.”  This  feeling  of  the 
prophet,  therefore,  consisted  in  a  conscientious  and 
poignant  conviction  of  sin,  produced  by  the  sudden 
and  overpowering  exhibition  of  God’s  holiness.  But 
why  does  he  specify  his  lips  as  being  the  admitted 
seat  of  his  uncleanness  ?  All  the  seraphim  were 
singing  with  their  lips  ;  that  alarming  word  “  holy” 
was  on  each  lip  that  sang.  That  was  what  startled 
him.  He  stood  in  his  own  way;  he  was  so  wrong 
that  he  could  not  join  them  in  their  music;  he  was 
so  wicked  that  he  could  not  worship  ;  he  could  only 
cry,  “  Woe  is  me  !  ” 

Plainly  the  time  has  come  now  for  a  provision  of 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR . 


339 


help.  Isaiah  can  go  no  further  alone.  The  supreme 
moment  is  reached  when. human  weakness  will  have 
to  be  supplemented  by  divine  interposition. 

At  this  instant,  the  spectacle  changes  rapidly. 
Thus  far,  one  would  suppose  that  the  exhibition 
had  been  constructed  in  entire  neglect  of  the  man, 
or  in  unconsciousness  of  his  presence  in  the  edifice. 
No  allusion  was  made  to  him  by  word  or  gesture. 
A  grand  out-gleam  of  glory  was  flashed  into  view  ; 
but  no  one  intimated  that  this  human  being  stand¬ 
ing  there  had  anything  deeper  of  personal  interest 
in  it,  than  if  he  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  it  alone, 
coming  by  accident  to  the  discovery.  But  the 
moment  he  is  prostrated  in  his  shame  and  contri¬ 
tion,  there  starts  out  towards  him  a  marvellous 
series  of  recognitions.  Then  it  is  that  we  find 
out  the  whole  vision  has  been  designed  solely  for 
him  in  person. 

What  is  done  is  this  :  one  of  the  angelic  beings, 
who  had  been  standing  and  singing  beside  the 
throne,  now  at  perhaps  some  unperceived  signal 
from  the  King,  left  his  place  swiftly,  advancing 
directly  to  the  prophet :  “  Then  flew  one  of  the 
seraphim  unto  me,  having  a  live  coal  in  his  hand, 
which  he  had  taken  with  the  tongs  from  off  the 
altar:  and  he  laid  it  upon  my  mouth,  and  said,  Lo, 


34o 


CHARLES  S.  ROBINSON. 


this  hath  touched  thy  lips;  and  thine  iniquity  is 
taken  away,  and  thy  sin  purged.” 

The  teaching  of  this  part  of  the  rehearsal,  there¬ 
fore,  has  but  one  possible  meaning.  It  all  refers  to 
the  method  of  relief,  proposed  for  a  sinner’s  cleans¬ 
ing  and  resultant  pardon.  We  must  be  slightly 
precise;  for  there  are  just  three  thoughts  suggested 
in  the  verse,  and  we  may  take  them  up  in  turn. 
These  namely  : 

I.  The  source  of  it  is  divine — It  comes  from 
the  throne. 

II.  The  nature  of  it  is  sacrificial — A  coal 
from  the  altar. 

III.  The  application  of  it  is  sovereign — A 
seraph  brings  it. 

I.  Few  words  will  be  necessary  to  show  that  the 
relief  offered  the  prophet  here  was  divine  in  its 
source.  It  came  directly  out  of  the  very  centre  of 
that  supernatural  glory  of  God. 

It  is  noticeable  that  not  one  effort,  nor  even  a 
semblance  of  an  effort,  was  put  forth  in  his  own 
behalf  by  Isaiah.  In  the  frantic  outcry  of  his  soul 
— “  I  am  undone” — he  throws  up  even  the  hope  of 
any  deliverance  whatsoever.  He  proposes  no  com¬ 
promises;  he  offers  no  engagement  of  reform.  Nor 
is  he  urged  to  any.  He  is  not  told  that  he  has  so 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR. 


341 


much  as  another  chance.  Not  a  single  question  is 
put  for  him  to  answer.  He  entertains  no  purpose 
to  dispute  the  conclusion  reached.  He  simply  lies 
on  the  ground  helpless,  leaving  his  helplessness,  if 
anything,  to  cry  for  him. 

Moreover,  the  relief  must  come  as  the  accusation 
came.  Up  to  this  moment  in  his  history  Isaiah 
never  had  been  aware  of  the  fact  that  he  was  so 
thoroughly  unclean  in  the  sight  of  a  holy  being 
like  God.  The  new  standard  of  his  estimation  was 
found  only  in  the  infinite  purity  of  that  King  he 
saw,  whose  praise  the  seraphim  were  singing.  It 
must  never  be  forgotten  that  genuineness  of  con¬ 
viction  of  sin  is  to  be  distinguished  from  mere 
natural  remorse  at  failure,  from  ordinary  compunc¬ 
tions  of  conscience,  from  sudden  shame  at  discovery, 
and  from  righteous  alarm  at  peril,  by  the  plain  di¬ 
rection  it  takes  and  the  standard  of  reference  it 
announces.  If  it  be  true  repentance,  it  will  say  with 
David  in  an  unmistakable  confession:  “  Against 
Thee,  Thee  only,  have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil 
in  Thy  sight;  that  Thou  mightest  be  justified  when 
Thou  speakest,  and  be  clear  when  Thou  judgest.” 

Let  us  get  this  point  clear,  before  we  go  any 
further.  It  will  serve  our  purpose  exactly  to  trace 
out  this  experience  of  a  royal  sinner,  whose  sin  was 


342 


CHARLES  S.  ROBINSON. 


so  conspicuous,  and  whose  repentance  was  so  much 
to  our  edification.  “  Against  Thee,  Thee  only,  have 
I  sinned.”  Now  some  would  say,  perhaps  carelessly, 
here  was  an  unauthorized  discrimination  ;  David  had 
sinned  against  Uriah,  and  against  Bathsheba,  and 
against  his  own  manhood,  and  against  that  whole 
realm  he  ruled,  by  complicated  crimes  of  murder, 
falsehod,  adultery,  and  impious  presumption.  Not 
against  God,  and  against  God  “  only,”  had  he  done 
his  great  wrong.  But  true  penitence  erects  a  true 
standard  ;  it  is  intelligent  as  well  as  self-abasing. 
David  knew  whom  he  had  offended.  Through  and 
through  the  concentric  circles  of  his  lofty  responsi¬ 
bility,  his  conscience  led  the  way  to  the  innermost 
one  of  all.  He  had  broken  God’s  law.  Full  before 
the  undefiled  glory  of  a  holy  Jehovah,  he  seemed 
quite  to  forget,  for  the  time  being,  everything  else 
except  what  God  must  think  of  him. 

So  always :  a  really  repentant  sinner  will  feel  as 
if  his  guilt  were  all  lying  in  an  unparalleled  enor¬ 
mity  of  aggravation.  He  has  transgressed  a  law 
that  is  right  ;  he  has  outraged  goodness  that  is 
limitless ;  he  has  rebelled  against  an  omnipotence 
he  cannot  now  face  ;  he  has  slightingly  turned  away 
an  affection  which  is  invaluable  ;  he  has  wronged  a 
beneficent  friend,  who  never  did  him  any  wrong ; 


I 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR.  343 

he  has  mocked  a  monarch,  established  in  authority, 
without  a  shadow  of  extenuation  or  excuse. 

With  this  kept  in  view,  there  is  no  room  for  argu¬ 
ment.  Human  deliverance  must  come  forth  from 
the  throne.  Isaiah,  crying  there,  in  all  the  abase¬ 
ment  and  abandonment  of  his  shame,  had  no  need 
to  thank  even  the  seraph  with  the  coal  of  fire  in 
his  hands.  The  coal  came  from  the  King.  The 
altar  was  the  King’s.  The  seraphim  were  only  the 
King’s  messengers.  Every  step  in  the  scheme  of 
human  salvation,  from  its  earliest  beginning  at  the 
new  birth,  to  its  latest  triumph  in  the  new  song, 
is  God’s.  “  Salvation  belongeth  unto  the  Lord.’' 
When  the  redeemed  in  heaven  sing  their  highest 
songs  of  ascription,  they  can  say  no  more,  no  less, 
than  this.  John  tells  us  in  the  Revelation  what  he 
heard  behind  the  vail : — 

“  After  this  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great  multitude, 
which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and 
kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the 
throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  nvhite 
robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands ;  and  cried  with  a 
loud  voice,  saying,  Salvation  to  our  God  which  sit- 
teth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb.” 

II.  So  much  seems  established,  then;  all  pardon 
for  transgression  in  the  present,  and  all  promise  for 


344 


CHARLES  S.  ROBINSON. 


the  future,  are  the  free  gifts  of  divine  grace  ;  their 
source  is  in  God.  The  plan  for  our  salvation  is 
altogether  his  :  “  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto 
us,  but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory,  for  Thy  mercy, 
and  for  Thy  truth’s  sake.” 

But  now  just  what  was  it  exactly,  which  the 
seraph  brought  to  this  weeping  prophet  ?  That 
leads  us  on  to  our  second  subject  of  consideration, 
namely,  the  nature  of  the  relief  proffered  to  a  peni¬ 
tent  sinner.  We  shall  find  it  to  be  an  atonement, 
made  by  sacrifice,  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of 
God’s  broken  law. 

In  the  vision  of  Isaiah,  we  are  told  that  one  of 
the  attendant  seraphim  left  his  post  beside  the 
throne,  and  flew  out  over  the  space  beyond  the 
Holy  of  Holies  till  he  reached  the  altar  in  the 
court ;  from  the  midst  of  its  glowing  embers  he 
took  with  the  tongs  a  live  coal ;  this  he  came  and 
laid  on  the  prophet’s  mouth. 

Now  I  think  that  expositors  have  wasted  a  great 
amount  of  valuable  space  in  trying  to  show  what 
altar  in  particular  the  celestial  messenger  visited. 
There  were  no  coals  to  be  found  upon  that  one 
which  stood  in  the  Holy  Place  ;  it  was  for  burning 
sweet  incense  of  gums  and  spices.  And  there  is 
no  sense  in  the  action  whatever,  if  all  that  the 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR.  345 

seraph  fetched  was  a  small  fragment  of  odorous 
resin,  symbolic  of  worship  ;  the  soul  is  not  saved 
by  worship.  The  live  coal  came  from  the  altar  of 
burnt  offering.  Victim  after  victim  had  flamed  on 
that  structure,  life  for  life,  in  solemn  service  of 
sacrifice,  atonement  for  guilt.  The  fire  once  kin¬ 
dled  had  never  been  suffered  to  go  out.  It  had 
been  lit  by  a  miraculous  flame  from  heaven  at  the 
first,  and  the  Levites  guarded  it  from  extinction, 
as  they  would  their  lives.  That  coal  was  part  of  a 
sacrifice.  When  laid  upon  Isaiah’s  lips  it  meant 
an  atonement  for  sin.  God  sent  him  no  uncondi¬ 
tional  pardon,  for  all  he  was  so  humble  and  penitent 
before  Him.  God  never  pardons  anybody  uncon¬ 
ditionally.  His  law  demands  satisfaction.  He  has 
not  ever  in  even  so  much  as  one  case  relaxed  its 
claims.  He  sent  us  Christ,  His  Son,  to  die  and 
become  a  sacrifice,  so  that  we  might  have  some¬ 
thing  outside  of  ourselves  to  plead. 

The  name  of  Jesus  is  the  only  name  given  under 
heaven  among  men,  whereby  we  may  be  saved. 
He  takes  his  appellation  of  “  the  Lamb  of  God  ” 
from  His  priestly  work  of  sacrifice.  All  those  old 
bloody  rites  of  Moses  referred  directly  to  Him  as 
the  victim  on  the  altar.  Everywhere  in  the  dawn¬ 
ing  of  that  early  dispensation  there  was  a  star-light 


346  CHARLES  S.  ROBINSON . 

of  Christ,  who  was  to  come  at  last  in  the  full  noon 
of  gospel  day. 

Look,  for  instance,  at  the  ancient  institution  of 
the  annual  Day  of  Atonement.  On  other  occasions 
inferior  priests  slaughtered  the  animals  and  prepared 
the  offering.  But  upon  this  anniversary,  the  high 
priest  alone  officiated.  And  all  the  drudgery,  clear 
down  to  the  lighting  of  the  lamps  and  the  kindling 
of  fire  for  incense,  a  long  work  of  preparation  re¬ 
quiring  sometimes  more  than  two  weeks  to  com¬ 
plete  it,  so  the  Rabbins  tell  us,  was  undertaken  by 
him.  That  day  was  a  day  of  days  to  him.  He 
was  to  put  aside  his  jeweled  mitre,  and  wear  none 
of  the  so-called  “golden  garments;”  even  his  shin¬ 
ing  breast-plate  of  precious  stones  had  to  be  relin¬ 
quished,  his  ephod  and  his  bells.  Clad  in  simple 
linen,  a  linen  girdle,  a  linen  coat,  a  linen  mitre,  he 
alone  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies,  he  alone  laid  the 
victim  on  the  coals,  and  he  alone  led  the  people’s 
scape-goat  away  into  the  wilderness. 

All  this  was  typical  of  the  solitary  errand  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Oh,  what  garments  of  glory 
He  laid  aside,  when  that  day  of  days  came  in  which 
He  was  to  minister  at  the  altar  of  solemn  atone¬ 
ment  !  There  was  no  remission  of  sins  without 
sacrifice,  and  He  came  to  be  the  ministrant  to  offer 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR.  347 

it.  He  needed  no  help ;  He  allowed  no  interfer¬ 
ence.  One  altar,  one  victim,  one  priest — this  was 
all  that  was  prescribed,  all  that  was  permitted. 

Did  you  ever  ponder  the  pertinency  of  the  fact 
that  none  among  all  the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  not 
one  of  all  the  adherents  who  followed  Him,  was 
permitted  to  die  with  Him  ?  He  was  condemned 
•  as  a  rebel ;  yet  not  a  single  man  or  woman  who 
succored  Him  or  sustained  Him  in  that  so-called 
insurrection  suffered  for  it.  A  few  of  His  friends 
talked  about  it ;  one  of  them  said  outright  on  a 
conspicuous  occasion,  “  Let  us  go  and  die  with 
Him  but  none  of  them  ever  did.  The  meaning 
of  this  is  very  plain.  It  was  an  infinitely  wise 
precaution  against  mistake.  It  would,  without  a 
doubt,  have  misled  some  feeble  minds,  if  by  any 
accidental  confusion  another  name  had  been  coupled 
with  His  in  the  dying  hour  on  the  cross.  It  was 
just  as  well  that  all  those  disciples  forsook  Him 
and  fled.  One  priest,  one  Lamb,  was  all  that  was 
needed. 

So  then,  as  we  come  back  to  the  story  we  are 
studying,  all  we  need  to  keep  in  mind  is  the  fact 
that  Isaiah  thoroughly  understood  and  accepted 
the  significance  of  that  coal  which  came  from  the 
altar.  It  was  the  offer  of  a  sufficient  sacrifice,  a 


34§ 


CHARLES  S.  ROBINSON. 


full  atonement  for  his  sin.  It  is  gross  beyond  de¬ 
scription,  to  reason  that  his  lips  were  to  be  burned 
with  the  fire,  and  so  his  suffering  was  to  count  as  a 
sort  of  penalty.  What  folly  to  think  malefactors 
may  be  cauterized  into  purity  !  Pain  may  be  part 
of  what  we  call  consequence  of  sin  ;  but  pain  has 
no  reckoning  whatever  among  the  pleas  God  re¬ 
ceives  from  the  penitent.  We  cannot  say  to  Him, 
“  Forgive  me,  for  I  suffer;”  but  we  may  say,  “  For¬ 
give  me,  for  the  Lord  of  Glory  suffered  once  in  my 
stead.” 

Furthermore  :  it  is  in  this  particular  that  the 
earthly  career  of  our  Saviour  possesses  such  power. 
It  is  not  His  correct  life,  so  much  as  His  sacrificial 
death,  which  sways  the  race  ;  it  is  not  so  much  His 
pure  moral  maxims  as  it  is  His  vicarious  obedience 
unto  law;  it  is  not  so  much  His  creed,  as  it  is  His 
cross.  Just  now,  within  a  little  while,  some  one 
has  said — and  it  surely  is  the  more  wisely  said,  be¬ 
cause  he  who  said  it  spent  some  invaluable  years  in 
denying  it  beforehand:  “  Unless  the  Apostolic  lan¬ 
guage  does  transgress  not  only  every  rule  of  literal 
construction,  but  all  parallels  in  the  latitude  of 
metaphor,  it  certainly  declares  Jesus  to  be  a  Re¬ 
deemer  in  some  sense  which  no  notion  of  instruc¬ 
tion,  or  of  exemplary  character,  satisfies.”  To  be 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR. 


349 


sure  it  does;  and  that  sense  is  very  clear  to  one 
who  is  willing  just  to  receive  it.  Jesus  Christ  is 
our  Redeemer  not  by  setting  examples  of  human 
greatness  before  our  eyes,  but  by  bearing  our  sins 
upon  the  cross,  and  becoming  our  substitute  before 
the  divine  law. 

III.  So  we  come  naturally  on  to  reach  our  third 
matter  of  consideration,  mentioned  in  the  beginning. 
The  application  of  atonement,  so  that  any  given 
transgresser  may  receive  it,  is  sovereign  on  the  part 
of  God,  and  wrought  entirely  by  free  grace. 

Such  a  lesson  is  taught  us  here  in  Isaiah’s  vision, 
by  all  the  circumstances  taken  together  under 
which  that  prophet  was  addressed  when  he  was 
joyously  informed  by  the  mysterious  voice  of  the 
seraph,  that  his  iniquities  were  removed  and  his 
sins  purged.  The  relief  came  from  the  altar.  The 
angel  brought  it.  The  King  sent  the  angel.  With 
absolutely  no  intervention  of  his  own  whatsoever, 
immediately  upon  the  acknowledgement  of  des¬ 
perate  necessity,  the  full  supply  of  help  arrived. 
The  remarkable  characteristic  of  His  pardon  is  that 
it  was  provided  graciously  by  an  agent  entirely 
external  and  independent  of  Himself.  And  the 
grand  lesson  for  us  now  is,  that  for  any  convicted 
sinner  relief  is  found  through  sovereign  interven¬ 
tion  of  the  Spirit  of  divine  grace. 


35°  CHARLES  S.  ROBINSON. 

For  you  are  carefully  to  remember  that  the  altar 
had  stood  in  the  court  all  the  time,  just  as  it  stood 
now  ;  the  coals  shone  upon  it,  the  tongs  were  close 
by.  But  there  was  no  being  to  furnish  fire  to 
Isaiah ;  there  was  not  one  person  in  the  universe 
to  whom  he  could  look  ;  there  was  not  one  whom 
he  could  impress  into  service ;  there  was  not  one 
on  whom  he  had  any  possible  claim.  A  single  coal 
of  sacrifice  would  help  him  ;  but  not  unless  it  could 
be  brought  to  touch  his  lips ;  and  so,  for  all  the 
good  that  wonderful  altar  could  do  him  now,  it 
might  as  well  have  been  kindled  on  another  planet 
as  out  there  just  within  reach.  For  divine  intelli¬ 
gence  only  to  provide  our  atonement,  and  store  its 
treasury  of  merit  full  in  sight  of  human  necessity, 
would  be  nothing  less  than  cruel  mockery.  It  must 
be  sovereignly  applied  to  each  soul. 

Isaiah  was  like  a  culprit  at  the  bar,  whose  case  is 
closed.  The  judge,  the  advocates,  the  jury,  do  all 
the  talking.  The  condemned  prisoner  seems  to 
have  no  chance.  Nobody  shows  any  attention  to 
him.  Iiis  day  is  over.  He  can  only  groan,  wipe 
his  eyes,  stand  up,  and  take  his  sentence.  If  there 
be  even  a  whisper  concerning  pardon,  pardon  lies 
somewhere  out  in  the  dark.  That  can  come  from 
some  unknown  executive  alone;  officially,  the  court 


A  LIVE  COAL  FROM  OFF  THE  ALTAR. 


35  1 


is  incompetent  to  touch  it.  The  man  is  given  over 
to  the  sheriff’s  hands  ;  there  remains  only  a  fearful 
looking-for  of  judgment.  He  cannot  go  for  forgive¬ 
ness,  even  if  it  be  in  store  for  his  needs. 

Pious  Wickliffe  used  to  pray  : — “  0  good  Lord, 
save  me  gratis  !  ”  And  Christ  does  save  gratis,  if 
He  saves  at  all.  Sinners  must  be  content  to  owe 
everything  they  receive  to  the  recognized  grace 
which  shines  on  Jesus’  forehead  and  warms  in  His 
heart. 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF 


AS  SEEN  IN 

SOME  CONTRADICTORY  PHENOMENA  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND 

CHARACTER. 


REV.  LLEWELYN  D.  BEVAN,  LL.  B. 


“I  AM  ONE  THAT  BEAR  WITNESS  OF  MYSELF.”  JOHN 

viii.,  18. 

The  conflict  of  Christianity  with  its  enemies  is 
ever  being  narrowed  to  the  question  of  the  person 
and  nature  of  Jesus  Christ.  Within  the  church 
the  subject  is  almost  decided,  and  universal  Chris¬ 
tendom  is  agreed  as  to  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity 
of  its  Lord  and  Saviour.  Discussions  both  in  this 
country  and  in  England,  which  were  carried  on 
pretty  hotly  within  the  memory  of  many  still 
amongst  us — which  proved  that  those  who  agreed  to 
accept  the  New  Testament  as  an  authority  in  doc¬ 
trine  and  practice  were  even  so  lately  divided  as  to 
the  nature  of  our  Lord,  issued  in  a  separation  of 


354 


LLE  W EL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


communion  and  fellowship  based  upon  differing 
views  as  to  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  Such  discus¬ 
sions  and  separations  have  in  their  final  outcome 
proved  that  the  essence  of  Christianity  is  the  per¬ 
son  of  Jesus.  Unitarians  have  either  gone  much 
further  than  their  early  position  and  proceded  almost 
to  an  entire  abandonment  of  Christianity,  or  else 
have  returned  to  hold  views  not  very  easily  distin¬ 
guishable  from  those  usually  accounted  orthodox, 
and  many,  I  believe,  are  only  waiting  for  some  kindly 
and  fraternal  overture  from  the  orthodox  party  to 
give  up  any  distinctive  and  heretical  opinions,  and 
reunite  themselves  with  the  vast  majority  of  the 
church — an  overture  too  grudgingly  given  or  too 
long  delayed  by  those  on  our  side.  The  church 
sees  as  she  has  never  seen,  not  even  in  the  critical 
time  of  the  Arian  controversies,  that  Christ  is  the 
centre  of  Christianity,  and  that  Christ  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God. 

The  same  fact  is  seen  in  the  methods  by  which 
external  attacks  are  made  upon  the  Christian  verity. 
It  is  not  only  by  friends,  but  chiefly  by  foes  that 
the  life  of  Jesus  is  written.  In  America,  in  England, 
in  Germany,  in  France,  the  most  popular  works 
which  issue  from  the  modern  press  are  those  which 
deal  with  Christ’s  history.  The  critic  and  the  friend 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  355 

alike  seek  in  the  life  of  Jesus  for  the  proof  of 
Lordship,  or  the  evidence  of  delusion.  What  did 
Christ  say  ?  what  has  Christ  done  ?  what  was  Christ  ? 
These  are  the  subjects  of  modern  debate.  Men 
have  largely  forsaken  ontological  and  metaphysical 
arguments  for  and  against  religion.  The  prophecies 
and  the  miracles  are  alike  felt  to  be  secondary  sub¬ 
jects  of  discussion.  What  think  you  of  Christ?  is 
the  question  of  the  apologist  and  the  infidel.  This 
is  the  chosen  field  of  conflict.  We  know  no  other 
place  where  we  would  so  gladly  contend.  The 
issue  here  is  vital.  Victorious  at  this  point,  all  the 
rest  is  easy.  Beaten  here,  the  Christian  church 
expires. 

In  this  line  of  argument  it  is  very  natural  to  ask 
what  is  the  testimony  that  Christ  gives  of  Himself  ? 
how  does  he  present  Himself  before  us?  Let  us 
place  ourselves  in  the  position  of  an  intelligent  and 
inquiring  observer  of  our  Lord’s  time.  What  would 
he  see?  How  would  Christ  appear  to  such  a  man?  ' 

We  propose  to  point  out  certain  paradoxes  in  the 
appearances  of  Christ — certain  striking  contrasts, 
almost  contradictions  of  consciousness,  phases  of 
character  and  conduct,  which  arrest  us  by  their  in¬ 
compatibility,  and  we  shall  endeavor  to  find  some 
explanation,  some  reconciliation  of  these  differences 


356 


LLE  WEL  YN  D.  EE  VAN. 


— as  judged  from  a  merely  human  stand-point — 
these  contradictions  of  feeling  and  action. 

I.  The  first  fact  which  presents  itself  before  a  can¬ 
did  observer  of  Jesus  is  His  sublime  self-consciousness 
of  divinity.  Compare  Him  with  all  religious  teachers, 
with  the  prophets  that  went  before  Him  and  the 
holy  men  who  have  followed  after,  and  we  find  Him 
dreaming  no  dreams,  seeing  no  visions.  The  ground 
of  His  teaching,  of  His  life,  is  not  a  mission  upon 
which  He  has  been  sent,  but  a  consciousness  which 
is  strong  and  vivid  within  Him.  We  never  hear 
Him  say  “Thus  sayeth  the  Lord.”  The  prophet’s 
formula,  “  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,” 
never  falls  from  His  lips;  but  instead  of  this  He 
speaks  forth  a  sublime  claim  ;  He  uses  language, 
not  the  servant’s,  but  the  Lord’s.  He  feels  that 
He  is  no  creature  but  the  very  eternal  Son  of  God. 

His  disciples  are  stricken  with  sorrow  as  they  fore¬ 
cast  some  swiftly  approaching  evil.  In  a  mysterious 
way  they  recognise  the  fact  that  their  beloved  Mas¬ 
ter  is  about  to  leave  them.  Desolation  already 
possesses  their  hearts,  like  a  shadowy  mist  creeping 
)  on  over  a  bleak  and  barren  moor.  Then  He  speaks 
to  them,  “  Let  not  your  hearts  be  troubled,  ye 
believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.”  “Show  us, 
i  the  Father  and  it  sufficeth  us  ”  cries  one  of  the 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF. 


357 


least  faithful,  the  least  hopeful  of  the  twelve. 
Jesus  answers  “  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen 
the  Father.”  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father 
in  me,”  even  that  “  Father  that  dwelleth  in  me.” 

Or  again,  in  discussion  with  the  Jews,  we  hear 
some  of  His  claims  to  authority  and  power.  “  Even 
Abraham,”  He  declares,  “rejoiced  to  see  His  day, 
and  he  saw  it  and  was  glad.”  Wild  words  these 
seem  to  the  scribe  and  the  pharisee,  and  they  answer, 
“  Thou  art  not  yet  fifty  years  old,  and  hast  thou 
seen  Abraham.”  Then  Jesus  replies,  “  Verily, 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  before  Abraham  was,  I  am.” 
Can  words  be  stronger,  more  graphic  as  an  expres¬ 
sion  of  a  consciousness  altogether  divine? 

I  am  quite  aware  that  there  is  the  endeavor  to 
diminish  and  to  explain  away  by  any  device  of 
criticism,  and  hermeneutic,  the  simple  meaning  of 
the  words.  There  seems  to  be  therefore,  much 
greater  force  in  some  of  the  indirect  words  of  our 
Lord  as  implying  the  mind  that  must  have  been  in 
Him. 

Take,  for  example,  a  saying  upon  the  occasion  al¬ 
ready  referred  to,  when  He  is  consoling  the  hearts 
of  His  Apostles,  and  He  refers  not  only  to  what 
had  been  in  the  past  and  what  He  was  for  them  as 
the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  Father  but  also  to 


358  LLE  IVEL  YN  D.  BE  VA  N. 

what  He  will  do  unto  them,  and  what  He  will  be  to 
them  after  He  has  left.  They  are  indeed  to  lose 
Him;  His  presence  will  no  longer  cheer,  His  voice 
no  longer  teach,  His  hand  no  longer  grasp  them  ; 
but  there  is  a  Comforter — a  Spirit  of  truth  ;  and 
whether  this  Spirit,  be  Himself  a  personality,  or  a 
power,  we  need  not  now  stop  to  enquire.  At  least 
the  spirit  was  to  be  a  Divine  gift,  the  very  fulness 
of  God’s  own  grace  and  might.  In  one  place  Christ 
says  that  He  will  pray  the  Father  for  the  Comforter, 
but  in  another  He  declares  that  it  is  expedient  for 
His  disciples  that  He  should  leave  them,  for  “if  I 
go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you, 
but  if  I  depart  I  will  send  Him  unto  you.” 

What  must  that  Being  claim  who  declares  that 
He  will  send  God’s  Spirit  to  His  disciples — the 
Spirit  that  broods  over  chaos,  and  a  forming  world 
of  beauty  springs  beneath  His  spreading  wing;  the 
Spirit  which  strives  with  man  for  righteousness  and 
truth,  for  purity  and  God  ;  the  Spirit  by  which  all 
beings  live?  Who  is  He?  Who,  at  least  must  He 
believe  Himself  to  be  who  declares  “  I  will  send 
this  Spirit  unto  you  ?” 

We  fall  away  from  the  awful  form  that  towers  be¬ 
fore  us  in  divine  majesty,  and  we  cry  with  bowed 
heads,  Behold  our  God  ! 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  359 

But  now  let  us  turn  to  another  set  of  phenomena 
which  present  themselves  in  the  consciousness  of 
Jesus,  and  we  observe  in  contrast,  His  ceaseless  sub¬ 
jection  to  God. 

A  young  man  came  running  to  meet  Him,  full  of 
aspirations,  hopes,  endeavors  for  higher  life,  but  with 
some  vain  conceit,  and  misconception  of  what  is 
the  essential  nature  of  goodness,  and  what  is  man’s 
true  relation  to  God.  “  Good  Master,”  he  cries, 
“  what  good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit 
eternal  life?”  Jesus  disregards  the  question,  and 
answers,  “  Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?  There 
is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God.”  The  candid 
observer  will  not  fail  to  recognize  here  the  sense  of 
a  dependence  on  God.  Althou  gh  H  e  said,  “  I  and 
the  Father  are  one,”  thus  making  Himself  in  the 
language  of  the  Jews  “equal  with  God,”  He  also 
says  “  The  Father  is  greater  than  I.”  He  is  the 
subject  servant,  the  dependent  son.  “  I  came  not 
to  do  my  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent 
me,”  and  where  ever  has  any  child  of  human  sorrow, 
burdened  by  any  duty  and  overwhelmed  by  storms 
of  distress,  cried  with  more  submissive  language,  and 
with  spirit  of  deeper  self-subjection  than  He,  who 
when  the  agony  became  of  blood,  and  the  wildest 

4 

conflict  was  at  its  highest,  prayed  to  the  Father 


LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN . 


3*° 

that  if  it  were  possible  the  cup  might  pass  from 
Him,  “  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt.” 

Who  is  this  sorrowing,  struggling,  submissive  one? 
Surely  th.e  man,  Christ  Jesus — the  boy  who  had  to 
be  about  His  Father’s  business,  and  yet  meekly 
bent  Himself  to  the  lowly  lot  of  Galilean  peasants 
and  mechanics,  and  became  subject  to  His  mother 
Mary  and  Joseph  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth. 

II.  Not  very  distinct  from  this  is  a  second  series 
of  contrasted  phenomena  in  the  consciousness  and 
expression  of  our  Lord.  On  the  one  hanei  His  pro¬ 
nounce d  self-assertion ,  on  the  other  hand  His  humility 
and  self-abnegation .  He  appeals  to  no  authority 
other  than  His  own  as  the  ground  upon  which  He 
claims  that  men  should  regard  and  behold  Him. 
Indeed  He  occasionally  condescends  to  argue  His 
work  and  teaching,  by  calling  attention  to  the  nature 
of  His  miracles,  challenging  charges  against  His  own 
conduct,  quoting  the  testimony  of  the  Baptist,  and 
even  appealing  to  the  reason  and  better  nature  of 
His  adversaries  ;  but  for  His  disciples,  and  in  respect 
to  the  future  of  His  doctrine  and  His  influence, 
He  almost  entirely  limits  Himself  to  His  own 
authority  and  trusts  to  the  personal  hold  which  He 
may  gain  over  man. 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIM  SELF.  361 

The  ipse  dixit  of  the  ancient  philosopher  was 
never  so  powerful  as  the  “  I  say  unto  you  ”  of  Christ. 
We  first  love  Him  and  then  we  learn  of  Him.  Faith 
in  Jesus  is  thus  a  personal  matter,  and  the  logic 
of  Christ’s  truth  follows  upon  the  lines  of  His 
person,  character  and  work,  rather  than  the  mere 
formal  necessities  of  our  own  intellect. 

When  He  propounded  His  law  upon  the  mount 
of  Beatitudes  which  forever  bears  the  name  of  the 
blessings  that  were  the  distinctive  character  of  the 
discourse  which  He  delivered,  He  contrasts  the 
teaching  of  His  ethics  with  the  ancient  law,  even 
though  that  was  divinely  given,  by  the  self-assertive 
words  “  I  say  unto  you.”  True,  He  fulfils  the 
law,  and  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  it  was  to  pass 
away;  nevertheless  His  fulfilment  of  it  is  its 
virtual  abrogation,  and  while  He  lifts  it  into  the 
upper  air  of  His  own  glorious  conceptions  of  life 
and  duty,  it  expires  and  passes  away — all  this  on 
His  own  authority  and  by  the  might  of  His  personal 
prestige. 

What  a  significant  scene  is  that  where  He  upbraids 
the  cities  for  their  hardness  of  heart  and  for  that 
unbelief  wherewith  they  had  rejected  Him  !  Had 
not  His  most  wonderful  works  been  done  amongst 
them  ?  In  their  streets  the  blind  had  seen  and  the 


362 


LLE  W EL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


deaf  heard.  They  had  beheld  the  wild  demoniac, 
devil-torn,  caught  by  the  strong  and  gentle  hand  of 
Jesus  and  changed  into  the  sane  and  quiet  disciple 
and  restored  to  the  long  desolated,  desparing  home. 
And  yet,  Bethsaida  or  Chorazin  had  not  believed  in 
Him,  while  Capernaum,  exalted  to  the  heaven,  had 
given  no  regard  to  heaven’s  King  who  had  appeared 
unto  her  with  His  wondrous  works  of  love  and 
power.  These  words  are  a  wail.  They  are  the  cry 
of  a  man  whose  work  has  been  rejected,  and  almost 
with  the  bitterness  of  a  heart  too  conscious  of  its 
failure.  Then,  hearken  to  the  words  that  follow, 
“  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest.”  This  apparently  disap¬ 
pointed  and  rejected  one  speaks  language  so  strong, 
so  hopeful,  so  self-reliant,  that  for  eighteen  centuries 
the  broken  hearted  and  the  defeated,  the  weary  and 
the  overwhelmed  have  listened  to  these  words  and 
felt  their  gracious  meaning,  and  found  in  them  a 
strong  consolation,  the  upholding  comfort  of  the 
Son  of  God.  Man’s  confidence  and  joy,  by  these 
bestowed,  have  been  the  echoing  confession  of  the 
ages,  the  truthful  record  of  the  human  race  to  the 
confident  self-assertion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Another  declaration  of  Christ  concerning  Him¬ 
self  is  remarkable.  From  His  disciples,  He  learns 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  363 

how  men  misunderstand  Him  and  His  missiony 
Some  say  He  is  Elias,  others,  John  the  Baptist 
raised  from  the  dead,  others,  Jeremias  or  one  of  the 
prophets.  It  is  only  a  few  who  really  apprehend 
Him,  and  can  confess  that  He  is  indeed  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God.  And  how  calm,  how  resolute,  how 
inspiring  the  words  with  which  He  makes  reply  to 
all  these  misapprehensions,  and  confirms  the  faith 
and  rewards  it,  when  His  chief  Apostle  makes  con¬ 
fession  of  his  Lord  !  This  Teacher,  Whose  teachings 
men  cannot  learn,  this  Leader  whom  men  will  not 
follow,  this  Lord  whom  men  will  not  obey  says  that 
“  upon  this  rock  ”  He  will  build  His  church  and  “  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.”  What 
church?  The  little  company  of  ignorant  fishermen? 
What  church?  The  living  band  of  fearful  yet  minis¬ 
tering  women  ?  Surely  not !  A  church,  which 
before  His  mind  lifts  itself  up  unto  the  heavens,  and 
is  established  with  a  power  as  of  God  Himself.  Is 
this  arrogance?  Is  this  egotism?  It  is  the  sub- 
limest  that  has  ever  been  revealed  to  man.  If  true, 
the  noblest ;  if  unfounded,  the  wildest  and  most  vain. 
And  may  we  not  enquire,  as  we  pass,  whether  any 
one  to-day,  with  eighteen  hundred  years  and  more 
between  him  and  these  words  of  Christ,  can  charge 
them  with  false  pretentiousness  or  would  dare  to 
say  that  they  were  too  proud,  too  strong  ? 


36  4 


L  LE  IV EL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


But  what  is  the-contrast  here  ?  Turn  to  it;  ob¬ 
serve  His  humility  and  meekness.  His  life  was 
simple.  The  child  of  a  carpenter’s  wife,  He  is  fitly 
born  in  the  outhouse  of  an  inn.  Round  Him  cir¬ 
cumstances  are  mean  and  lowly.  His  mother’s 
offering  at  His  birth  is  the  simple  offering  of  the 
poor.  His  lot,  though  indeed  of  royal  line  on  both 
sides  of  the  family  in  which  He  dwelt,  was  that  of 
the  lowly  Nazarene.  It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine 
the  scenes  of  humble  life  in  which  He  moved — the 
house,  the  simple  life  of  the  Synagogue  school, 
the  lowly,  if  not  impoverished  condition  of  an 
artizan’s  career.  Clearly,  He  received  no  education 
which  was  markedly  above  that  of  His  companions, 
for  the  people  ask  when  they  see  Him,  “  whence  hath 
this  man  letters?”  He  came  out  into  public  life  as 
a  person  soon  noted  and  famous,  but  His  career 
opened  to  Him  no  affluence,  no  place  of  earthly 
dignity  and  ease.  “  Birds  have  nests  and  foxes 
have  holes,  but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where  to 
lay  His  head.”  He  who  could  bless  the  bread  and 
feed  the  gathered  thousands  knew  the  pangs  of 
hunger,  and  the  only  treasury  where  He  could  find 
the  tribute  money  was  the  fish’s  mouth  which  by 
accident,  or  povidentially,  as  we  more  rightly  would 
speak,  held  the  needed  coin.  His  lot,  if  not  that 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  365 


of  poverty  and  humblest  life,  was  certainly  one  of 
humiliation  and  ignobleness. 

The  moral  characteristics  of  Christ’s  character 
were  the  fitting  counterpart  of  His  humble  life. 
“  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart”  He  says  to  those 
whom  He  invites  to  find  rest  for  their  souls.  How 
truly  does  this  describe  Him  !  The  youth  in  whom 
the  struggling  Divinity  already  breaks  forth  and 
who  has  awakened  to  the  sense  of  the  Father’s 
business,  is  willing  to  go  down  to  that  lowly  home 
of  Nazareth  and  be  subject  to  His  parents.  When 
He  becomes  the  scoff  of  sinners,  the  mockery  of 
cruel  men,  how  patient,  how  submissive  !  “  He  is 

led  like  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  be¬ 
fore  her  shearers  He  is  dumb.”  No  word  of  scorn, 
no  proud  casting  back  of  defiance ;  nothing  but 
the  closing  prayer  of  the  breaking  heart,  u  Father 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.” 
So  much  has  Christ  become  identified  with  the 
gentler  and  meeker  sides  of  human  conduct,  that  it 
has  become  fashionable  to  charge  Him  with  teach¬ 
ing  a  virtue  that  is  pale  and  cloister-like,  wanting 
in  the  sterner  and  more  active  qualities  which  are 
needed  to  complete  and  perfect  character.  He  who 
claims  to  be  everything  and  to  have  all  power  is 
also  the  shrinking,  modest,  humble  hearted  one 


366 


LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


who  flees  from  the  public  eye  and  retreats  to  desert 
places  and  the  mountain  solitude. 

III.  A  third  set  of  contrasted  characteristics  is 
the  infinite  power  exhibited  by  Jesus,  combined  with 
a  most  noteworthy  meekness  and  helplessness. 

Mark  the  works  of  Jesus!  How  easily  they 
are  all  performed  !  The  master  hand  is  seen  in  the 
very  facility  in  which  it  moves.  The  strivings  of 
the  demigod  as  he  lifts  up  enormous  masses  and 
crushes  into  shape  the  rude  stuff  upon  which  he 
toils,  is  not  so  impressive  as  the  ease  with  which 

the  God  labors  and  makes  all  things  to  bend  sub- 

» 

missive  to  the  very  motion  of  His  will.  “  Let  there 
be  light  ”  speaks  the  voice  of  God,  “and  there  was 
light.”  He  opens  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  a 
race,  all  but  one  family,  are  overwhelmed  in  the 
deluge. 

And  is  it  not  thus  that  Christ  works?  It  is  the 
storm  upon  the  lake  of  Galilee.  The  little  boat 
makes  but  poor  way  against  the  breaking  waves 
and  before  that  driving  wind  which  comes  sweeping 
down  some  gully  from  the  heights  upon  the  Eastern 
shore.  The  rowers  toil  and  labor,  but  the  sea 
breaks  in  upon  them  and  the  boat  is  filling,  and 
they  begin  to  sink.  Where  is  the  Master  ?  Asleep. 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  367 

Calmly  reposing  after  a  hard  day’s  work,  He  rests 
upon  a  pillow  in  the  hinder  part  of  the  little  vessel. 
They  come  to  Him  ;  they  awake  Him — “  Master, 
Master,  we  perish”  they  cry.  He  rises,  speaks  to 
the  winds  and  the  waves,  and  there  is  a  great  calm. 

In  His  dealings  with  disease,  the  same  infinite 
power  is  exhibited.  A  touch  upon  the  eye-lid  of 
the  blind  pours  the  light  of  day  upon  the  darkened 
orb.  A  word  to  the  fever,  and  the  pulse  beats  with 
moderated  flow  through  the  veins  of  the  cured  one. 
“  Be  clean  ”  He  says  to  the  leper,  and  the  loathsome 
disease  is  gone. 

See  yonder  demoniac,  naked,  with  long  hair  un¬ 
kempt  and  matted,  horrible  in  jesture,  with  naught 
upon  his  torn  body  but  the  rings  of  the  chains  where¬ 
with  men  have  bound  him.  He  is  flying  towards 
the  tombs,  when  a  word  from  Jesus  arrests  him. 
He  stands  and  answers  the  question  which  the 
Lord  puts  to  him.  Another  word  from  Christ — 
and  behold  the  man  whom  multitudes  dreaded,  who 
had  become  a  wild  beast  in  his  terrible  bondage  is 
“sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  clothed  and  in  his  right 
mind.” 

In  all  this  one  is  impressed  by  the  sense  of  reserved 
power  which  Jesus  always  exhibited.  Men  often 
work  at  their  full  stretch.  Another  pound  of  strain 


LLE  IV EL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


368 

and  the  grasp  must  be  relaxed  ;  another  ounce  of 
weight  and  we  must  let  go.  But  Christ  labors  with 
a  vast  amount  of  strength  behind  Him.  He  is 
always  easy  in  His  work.  The  greatest  effect 
makes  no  call  on  Him,  because  infinity  seem  to  be 
the  source  from  which  He  draws. 

Hence  there  is  no  wonderworking  in  the  life  of 
Jesus.  H  e  is  no  thaumaturge,  no  magician.  There 
is  no  array  of  scenery,  no  parade  of  dress,  no  pomp 
of  staff  and  signs  and  portents.  Compare  Him 
even  with  the  other  workers  of  miracles  whom  God 
has  sent  to  man,  and  they  summon  the  power — He 
exercises  it.  There  is  force  in  His  very  look.  His 
magic  is  divine. 

H  ow  remarkable  the  contrast  to  this  which  we 
find,  in  what  I  cannot  describe  better  than  by 
the  expression,  the  helplessness  of  Jesus!  Take 
the  supernatural  out  of  the  history  of  Christ, 
and  how  feeble  He  everywhere  manifests  Himself ! 
He  who  can  bless  the  bread  and  make  the  narrow 
furnishing  for  a  simple  household  the  superabundant 
feeding  of  five  thousand  is  familiar  with  hunger. 
The  poor  supply  His  needs.  He  has  to  escape  for 
His  life  from  the  mob  who  pursue  Him.  He  is 
invited  as  a  guest  to  the  house  of  the  Pharasee,  but 
the  common  courtesies  of  strangers  are  denied  Him. 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  369 

“Give  me  to  drink,”  He  says  to  the  woman  at  the 
well-side,  where  faint  and  weary  He  had  sat  Him 
down  to  wait  until  His  disciples  should  procure  re¬ 
freshment  from  the  village  hard  by.  With  His 
hand  upon  a  universe  that  yields  before  the  min¬ 
utest  swaying  of  His  will,  He  is  almost  dependent 
as  a  child  and  fragile  as  a  tender  woman. 

IV.  There  is  nothing  in  the  consciousness  of 
Jesus  which  is  more  noteworthy  than  the  complete 
absence  of  any  sense  of  sinfulness  or  moral  defect. 
The  history  of  the  religious  life  of  the  leaders  of 
human  thought,  and  especially  the  founders  or  re¬ 
formers  of  religion  has  been  marked  by  seasons  of 
a  profound  sense  of  personal  unworthiness  and  de¬ 
merit.  The  apprehension  of  God  in  His  holiness, 
the  perceptions  of  the  claims  of  the  Divine  Law 
intensify  the  human  consciousness  of  distance  from 
God  and  departure  from  righteousness.  Hence  a 
personal  religious  experience  with  its  specific  rela¬ 
tions  to  sin  and  holiness,  (the  overcoming  of  the  one, 
and  the  attainment  of  the  other),  occupy  a  large 
part  of  the  history  of  religion. 

But  there  is  no  trace  of  such  experience  in  the 
case  of  Jesus.  He  may  grow  in  favor  with  God 
and  man  ;  He  may  perceive  the  work  which  the 
Father  gave  Him  to  do  ;  He  may  advance  in  the 


370 


LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


development  of  His  mission  ;  but  there  is  no  peni¬ 
tence  ;  there  is  no  struggle  to  overcome  sinfulness 
within  Him  ;  there  is  no  dejection,  no  sudden 
awaking  to  a  consciousness  of  God’s  claim  ;  there 
is  not  the  shadow  of  the  sense  of  sin.  And  yet, 
“  sinlessness  ”  does  not  describe  it.  It  is  “separa¬ 
tion.”  There  is  an  absolute  incompatibility  to 
conceive  of  sin  finding  harbor  in  Christ’s  nature,  or 
being  manifested  in  His  life.  His  life  is  pure  as 
the  angels.  He  is  holy  as  God  is  holy.  If  you 
search  deeply  into  the  Christian  thought  concerning 
Jesus  and  sin,  you  will  find  that  it  has  come  almost 
to  the  point  of  being  unable  to  attach  the  idea  of 
sinfulness  to  the  Lord,  any  more  than  one  would 
attach  such  idea  to  objects  which  had  no  moral 
nature  at  all. 

Even  the  unbelievers  make  but  a  feint  of  discov¬ 
ering  sin  in  Christ.  It  may  be  hinted  with  a  leer, 
but  the  hint  reveals  the  impurity  of  the  critic,  not 
the  sinfulness  of  the  Christ.  Make  the  worst  of 
some  vague  expression  or  obscure  event  in  our 
Lord’s  history,  and  you  only  plunge  yourself  into  a 
critical  problem  of  inconsistency  and  unlikelihood 
more  perplexing  than  the  sinfulness  itself.  “  Which 
of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin?”  asks  Jesus  of  the 
ages.  “I  find  no  fault  in  Him”  reecho  well  nigh 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  371 

two  milleniums  to  the  declaration  of  the  Roman 
judge. 

r 

Now,  turn  to  those  scenes  of  transcendent  mystery 
in  Christ’s  history — the  temptation,  the  garden 
agony,  the  passion  on  the  cross,  the  death ;  and 
what  in  the  presence  of  sinlessness  do  such  expres¬ 
sions  signify  ?  He  is  tried,  but  surely,  what  does 
temptation  mean  if  the  nature  is  not  one  that  can  be 
tempted  ?  Where  is  the  force  of  example,  of  en¬ 
couragement,  of  sympathy,  if  the  words  of  satan 
were  like  idle  winds  softly  whispering  upon  ada¬ 
mantine  rock  ?  And  then,  why  the  shrinking 
from  the  cross?  Was  it  mere  pain  that  Christ 
would  avoid  ?  Did  suffering  which  some  rude  robber 
would  bear  with  composure,  overwhelm  this  Son  of 
God,  until  He  trembles,  shrinks  and  bursts  into  a 
sweat  of  blood  ?  Thousands  of  martyrs — little 
children  and  gentle  women,  have  borne  gladly  and 
almost  with  desire,  sufferings  far  greater  than  those 
which  Jesus  seemed  to  endure,  and  beneath  which 
He  quailed  and  groaned  so  that  the  earth  was 
shaken,  and  cried  out  that  He  was  forsaken  of  His 
God.  Innocence,  sinlessness  does  not  know  such 
fear  as  that.  Here  indeed,  is  the  most  pronounced 
contradiction  in  the  paradox  which  we  explore. 


372 


LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


V.  The  following  contrasts  which  we  note  are  to 
be  regarded  as  belonging  to  all  the  aspects  which 
we  have  considered,  rather  than  to  be  set  apart  into 
a  class  by  themselves.  We  refer  to  the  infiniteness 
which  marks  so  much  of  what  Jesus  did,  while  on 
the  other  hand  there  are  limitations  by  which  He  is 
ever  environed.  There  are  no  bounds  to  His 
being.  Not  that  the  spectator  feels  this  in 
any  one  particular  mode  of  Christ’s  life  and 
action  ;  but  let  him  begin  to  define  the  limits 
of  Jesus’  character,  to  find  that  which  lies  be¬ 
yond  Him,  and  then  all  becomes  vast,  indefinite, 
illimitable.  I  think  we  may  say  that  nothing  in 
Christ’s  history  is  itself  infinite,  but  it  runs  at  once 
into  the  infinite.  Hence  men  do  not  out-grow  Him. 
Each  age  studies  Him  afresh  with  ever  widening 
sweep  of  the  scope  with  which  He  can  be  regarded. 
His  words  grow  in  significance.  The  more  they  are 
studied  the  more  meaning  is  found  in  them.  This 
age,  which  is  most  fertile  in  the  investigation  of  the 
sayings  of  our  Lord,  has  more  than  any  age  proved 
how  the  horizon  of  Christ’s  doctrine  widens  and 
advances.  His  works,  even  the  least,  give  the  im¬ 
pressions  of  being  nothing  but  the  beginning  of 
energy,  and  like  the  doings  of  God  Himself,  “  there 
were  the  hidings  of  His  power.” 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  373 

And  yet  this  infinite  Being  is  limited  by  all  the 
limitations  which  environ  us.  He  is  an  infant,  a 
child,  a  youth.  He  grows  to  maturity.  He  is 
hungry,  thirsty,  faint  and  weary.  He  seeks  for 
human  companionship;  yearns  for  sympathy  and  to 
be  understood  ;  feels  the  bitter  hostility  of  enemies, 
the  cold  neglect  of  the  unfaithful,  the  weakness 
of  His  disciples,  the  treason  of  the  betrayer.  His 
words  and  acts  are  those  of  a  God,  and  yet  He  js 
flesh  of  our  flesh,  a  man  among  His  fellows. 

There  are  two  scenes  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  which 
bring  out  into  very  startling  contrast  these  con¬ 
ditions  of  character  and  mind  which  we  have  briefly 
indicated.  Both  of  these  events  took  place  in  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane  upon  that  eventful  night  so 
fraught  with  issues  of  eternal  moment  to  our  race. 
In  the  first  scene,  we  find  our  Lord  addressing  to 
His  disciples  words  of  comfort,  of  strength.  Look 
at  Him  so  calm,  so  sublime,  so  helpful.  He  cheers 
them  as  a  friend  would  cheer  his  friends,  who  mourn 
his  departure  upon  some  long  journey,  to  him  al 
familiar,  to  them  all  unknown.  He  promises  them 
Divine  strength.  He  will  ask  for  it — nay  He  will 
Himself  give  it.  He  is  the  heroic,  the  Divine — the 
very  Son  of  God,  with  all  the  calm  majesty,  the 
unmoved  strength  of  the  King  of  angels  and  of 


374 


LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


men.  But  now  the  scene  is  changed  :  He  has  left 
the  main  body  of  the  disciples,  and  with  a  few 
chosen  ones  moved  forward  into  the  deeper  recesses 
of  the  garden,  and  there  He  prays.  But  where 
is  the  calmness,  the  strength  ?  It  is  an  agony 
that  we  behold.  Strong  cries  that  He  may  be 
saved  from  what  is  coming,  tears,  groanings,  the 
sweat  of  blood  attest  the  bitterness,  the  conflict, 
the  almost  conquered  One,  who  so  lately  was  self- 
reliant,  all  Divine.  Where  in  all  literature  is  the 
artistic  contrast  so  striking?  Remember  it  is  only 
the  simple  record  of  the  unlettered  who  tell  the 
story  as  they  knew  it  best. 

But  what  is  this?  Lights  approach  and  a  band 
of  armed  men  come  forth,  led  by  the  traitor, 
commissioned  by  the  priests.  Judas  knows  the 
place,  and  he  has  bid  them  search  amid  these  sha¬ 
dowy  retreats,  for  the  Lord  has  often  come  here 
for  prayer  and  meditation.  But  there  is  no  need 
for  searching.  He  steps  forth — a  moment  ago  the 
man  of  sorrows,  bound  down  with  some  tremendous 
weight,  crushed  by  the  burden,  shrinking  from  the 
event — He  steps  forth,  we  say,  and  lo,  the  whole 
band  of  soldiers  fall  back  and  down  upon  their 
faces,  smitten  by  the  exceeding  glory  and  majesty 
of  Him  whom  they  would  take.  Yet  He  yields  to 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  375 

them.  They  seize  Him.  Apparently,  some  hold 
Him  and  are  leading  Him  away.  Meanwhile,  in 
the  confusion,  one  of  the  disciples  has  smitten  an 
attendant,  and  wounded  him  in  the  ear.  “  Suffer 
me,”  said  the  Master,  courteously  requesting  the 
guard  to  loose  Him,  and  putting  forth  His  hand,  He 
touches  the  ear  and  it  is  healed.  Then  gently  sub¬ 
mitting  to  His  captors,  He  is  led  away. 

But  observe  that  act.  The  Man  whose  very 
form  fills  the  guard  with  dismay  and  strikes  them 
to  the  ground,  whose  calm  declaration  is  that  He 
could  presently  summon  an  angelic  army  to  His 
rescue  (and  no  one  doubts  it)  with  quiet  courtesy 
requests  the  soldier  who  holds  Him  to  relax  his 
grasp,  that  He  may  extend  His  power  to  save 
and  bless.  How  we  change  in  all  this  life  from 
strength  to  weakness — from  the  conscious  God  to 
the  smitten  humble  man — until  the  eye  looking 
with  no  light  but  that  which  shines  for  human 
vision,  is  dazzled  and  confounded,  and  knows  not 
whether  those  records  be  only  the  wild  phantasms 
of  a  fevered  dream. 

It  is  at  least  a  series  of  phenomena  that  demand 
explanation  ;  or  the  greatest  miracle  of  the  world’s 
superstition  is  the  undoubted  fact  of  the  narrative 
itself.  Dismiss  it?  You  cannot  if  you  would  be 


37^  lle  w el  yn  d.  be  van. 

scientific  and  know.  Happy  are  you  if  you  under¬ 
stand  it  and  believe  ! 

Now,  such  a  remarkable  history  demands  some 
explanation.  Let  us  briefly  consider  what  has  been 
advanced  concerning  it,  and  what  is  the  true  signifi¬ 
cance  of  this  witness. 

It  is  said  that  the  Christ  is  the  out-growth  of  the 
ages,  and  that  He  may  be  called  a  natural  product ; 
that  the  forces  of  all  the  preceding  generations 
gathered  in  Him,  and  that  Eastern  and  Western 
races  with  their  religions,  philosophies,  national 
systems,  laws  and  customs  centred  in  Christ  and 
produced  the  ideal  man.  But  we  ask  where  can  be 
found  the  elements  in  any  one  of  the  human  forces 
as  known  to  us  in  the  time  of  Christ,  from  which 
the  nature  of  Christ  could  be  compounded.  And 
if  one  Christ  could  be  produced,  why  not  others; 
why  not  a  community  which  by  natural  out-growth 
was  developed  in  any  nation  or  among  all  nations  ? 
The  fact  is,  whatever  Jesus  was,  whatever  His  church 
became,  it  was  in  1  absolute  contradiction  to  what 
was  found  in  the  society  around.  Can  Christ  be 
formed  out  of  what  Pharisaism  or  Sadduceeism 
or,  indeed,  Judaism  itself  is  known  to  be,  not  only 
at  the  time  of  Christ,  but  at  the  period  of  their 
highest,  best  development?  Will  the  oriental  re- 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  377 

ligions  produce  the  Son  of  Mary,  the  Son  of  God. 
Out  of  Grecian  art  and  culture,  or  out  of  Roman 
militaryism  and  law  can  a  satisfactory  genesis  be 
made  for  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  The  question  answers 
itself,  and  the  form  of  our  Lord  still  rises,  unique,  un¬ 
classed,  ungenerated,  sprung  from  no  human  source 
begotten  by  no  human  father,  whether  for  physical 
constitution  or  not,  certainly  not  for  moral  and 
spiritual  character.  There  may  be  indeed  a  scene, 
an  arena  for  that  life,  a  fitted  lap  on  which  the 
infant  Jesus  may  repose,  a  virgin’s  womb  which  He 
may  not  despise,  and  so  there  may  be  a  circumstance 
of  the  world  and  humanity  in  which  the  life  of 
Jesus  may  rest,  and  in  which  it  may  be  transacted, 
but  the  power  that  produces,  that  generates,  such 
power  as  shall  satisfy  the  scientific  condition  of  the 
problem  cannot  be  found  in  that  ancient  world 
though  we  search  from  the  remotest  Britain  to  the 
farthest  India. 

Another  explanation  which  has  been  given,  is 
that  this  Christ  of  the  Gospel  is  the  ideal  of  an 
individual  mind — not  a  natural  product,  but  a 
literary  product.  This  history  is  a  romance ;  the 
grandest  triumph  of  human  imagination,  but  alto¬ 
gether  ficticious,  created  by  man,  an  image,  a 
thought,  an  idol.  If  so,  wonderful  creation  !  How 


378  LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VA  N. 

unlike  all  else  that  literature  can  afford  !  Where 
are  the  rules  of  keeping,  of  harmony,  of  equipoise? 
Where  is  the  humanity?  And  if  an  imaginative 
monster,  how  is  it  that  He  is  still  so  human,  so  real? 
The  fact  is,  to  make  Christ  the  creation  of  man  is 
to  raise  difficulties  still  greater  than  those  presented 
by  the  theory  that  the  history  is  real.  With  a 
word  only  we  need  dismiss  this  suggestion  (which 
probably  has  long  ago  been  dismissed  from  the 
critical  mind,  except  as  a  vague  mental  influence 
which  weakens  faith  and  destroys  enthusiasm).  If 
a  romance,  who  was  the  romancer?  If  a  creation 
of  the  human  mind,  where  is  the  creating  mind  ? 
Show  him  to  us  that  we  may  at  least  find  there  our 
divinity  and  adore. 

A  third  theory  that  we  must  note  is  that  Christ 
was  a  retrospective  development,  or  as  we  may  say 
a  mythical  product.  Some  individual  of  great  power 
and  wisdom,  of  noble  elevation,  of  moral  character, 
and  deep  spiritual  insight  did  exist,  who  reformed 
religion,  founded  a  school,  and  after  death  was 
slowly  changed  by  the  loving  regard  of  his  followers 
into  the  heroic  and  at  last  the  divine.  The  histories 
of  Christ  which  we  posses,  it  is  said,  belong  to  a 
late  period  of  the  Church  ;  in  some  cases  perhaps 
a  century  elapsed  between  the  death  of  Jesus  and 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  379 

the  publication  in  their  present  form  of  some  of 
the  Gospels  which  we  receive,  and  in  that  time 
tradition  had  grown,  and  love  had  become  an  en¬ 
thusiasm  and  discipleship  a  worship,  and  Christ 
was  made  God  with  all  God-like  qualities  and 
powers  intermingled  with  the  simple  story  of  His 
human  career. 

It  is  impossible  to  deal  with  such  an  opinion 
within  the  limits  of  this  discourse,  but  it  would 
have  been  uncandid  to  have  passed  over  this  most 
generally  received  theory  of  the  life  and  history  of 
the  Christian  Lord.  We  make,  however,  one  re¬ 
mark  concerning  it  which  seems  to  us  absolutely 
fatal  to  this  hypothesis,  and  our  critics  themselves 
shall  be  our  judges. 

Granting,  that  in  the  course  of  a  century  such  a 
myth  could  have  arisen,  how  is  it  that  we  have  the 
supernatural,  unique,  Divine  nature  of  Jesus  Christ 
not  only  hinted  at  or  supposed,  but  clearly  asserted, 
made  the  basis  of  finished  argument,  the  ground 
of  a  philosophic  presentation  of  Christian  doctrine 
which  remains  until  this  day  the  inspiration  of  all 
the  philosophic  systems  of  the  Christian  verity,  in 
the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Romans  which  no  man 
whose  name  is  worthy  of  record  in  historic  criticism 
has  ventured  to  impugn,  as  a  work  composed,  pub- 


380  LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 

lished  almost  within  a  generation  from  the  time  of 
Christ  by  one  whose  life  must  have  overlapped 
that  of  our  Lord,  and  who  in  every  way  had  reason 
to  refuse  the  results  said  to  be  the  growth  of  the 
myth  tendency  in  the  Church,  but  who  clearly  held 
and  taught  them,  and  left  them  on  record  in  gravest, 
soberest,  most  significant  words  ?  As  long  as  the 
epistle  to  the  Romans  remains  a  study  for  the 
church,  the  mythical  theory  is  the  wildest  hypothesis 
of  criticism  run  mad. 

That  Christ  was  Himself  a  deceiver  or  an  enthu¬ 
siast,  may  be  urged  as  an  explanation  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  history  on  the  platform  of  a  third  rate  infidel 
hall,  but  scarcely  needs  notice  here.  The  moral 
impossibility  of  such  a  resolution  of  the  problem 
is  invisible  only  to  those  who  themselves  are  so  im¬ 
moral  as  not  to  recognize  virtue,  or  so  ignorant  as 
to  be  unable  to  weigh  evidence  as  to  the  consistency 
of  character,  and  the  essential  keeping,  which 
belongs  to  human  life.  A  knave  ought  to  recog¬ 
nize  that  Christ  was  truthful,  and  the  fool  would 
he  open  his  eyes  might  see  that  He  was  perfectly 
self-possessed.  Had  Christ  been  a  deceiver  He 
would  have  summoned  the  aid  of  physical  force, 
which  was  at  one  time  quite  at  His  command. 
Had  Christ  been  an  enthusiast,  the  dominion  of  the 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  381 

sensuous  which  always  accompanies  religious  en¬ 
thusiasm,  strong  enough  to  produce  epochal  effects, 
would  have  been  manifested  in  His  life.  But  He 
is  pure  as  the  dew  drop  which  reflects  only  the  sun¬ 
shine  and  the  sky.  He  is  gentle  as  the  infant.  He  is 
best  described  as  the  Lamb  of  God. 

We  have  left  ourselves  but  short  time  wherein  to 
present  that  theory  which  alone  satisfies  all  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  the  case,  and  although  we  must  go  to 
Holy  Scripture  for  it  (for  which  we  humbly  apolo¬ 
gise  to  our  rationalist  friend)  a  philosophic  necessity 
of  fitness  and  the  only  fitness  compels  us  to  accept 
it.  Guided,  therefore,  by  scripture  we  affirm  that 
in  these  phenomena  which  we  have  observed,  we 
find  the  evidence  of  a  personality  altogether  unique. 

There  are  contrasts,  even  contradictions,  and  yet 
there  is  a  unity  about  the  person  and  a  consistency 
in  the  life  that  make  us  feel  confident  of  the  truth¬ 
fulness  of  the  record.  All  things  fall  into  their 
place,  when  we  are  taught  by  the  word  of  God,  that 
this  person  whom  we  seek  to  understand  is  at  once 
the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  man.  He  is  Divine, 
and  all  the  Divinity  of  His  being  is  thus  accounted 
for.  He  is  human,  and  all  the  humanity  of  His  lot 
is  wholly  explained.  Christ  is  then  God  and  man. 
His  Divinity  is  not  the  incarnation  of  the  oriental 


382 


LLE  W EL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


faith,  wherein  the  divine  is  manifested  by  the  human 
— really  Divine  but  in  human  form.  This  is  no 
apotheosis  where  the  man  is  lifted  up  to  the  God¬ 
head  and  endowed  in  some  mysterious  fashion  with 
the  qualities  of  God ;  ceasing  to  be  man  and  becom¬ 
ing  a  divinity.  It  is  not  the  humanization  of  a  God 
when  the  Divinity  ceases  to  be  Himself  and  takes 
on  the  qualities  of  man  ;  but  it  is  pure  and  simple 
Incarnation.  Christ  is  God,  and  Christ  is  man — God 
in  man,  God  with  man,  but  ever  essentially  God 
and  man.  If  this  is  so,  the  phenomena  are  explained, 
the  life  is  consistent,  the  character  is  confirmed. 

Then  again  the  origin  of  this  unique  personality 
must  he  traced  to  God.  It  is  clear  that  the  human 
race  could  not  produce  such  a  being.  No  genera¬ 
tion,  no  development,  no  highest  striving  of  highest 
man  could  ever  eventuate  in  this  unique  Son  of 
God,  Son  of  man.  Even  were  the  ideal  conception 
possible,  which  is  doubtful,  a  person  who  had  formed 
the  idea  could  never  have  realised  it.  It  must  have 
remained  a  phantom  of  his  imagination  and  left  no 
trace  behind  except  the  record  of  the  baseless 
fabric  of  a  dream.  But  with  God  all  things  are 
possible,  and  scripture  is  at  least  consistent  and 
philosophic,  and  is  the  best  solution  of  the  problem 
yet  presented  when  it  declares  that  “  God  sent  His 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  383 

Son,”  that  “  He  that  cometh  from  above  is  above 
all.” 

And  finally  it  follows  necessarily,  and  scripture 
declares  it,  that  the  object  for  which  such  a  unique 
being  was  sent  by  God  into  the  world  must  have  been 
to  accomplish  some  special  work. 

That  Christ  should  have  been  a  mere  teacher 
would  not  require  a  nature  both  divine  and  human, 
for  God  could  have  inspired  a  man  and  taught  him 
what  to  say.  If  Jesus  had  come  only  to  incite  men 
to  higher  endeavors  and  quicken  them  to  a  nobler 
life,  this  also  He  might  have  accomplished  had  He 
been  only  man.  It  was  for  other  purposes  than 
teaching  and  inspiring  that  God  became  man. 

Then  again  God  could  not  have  become  man  for 
His  own  sake.  He  can  require  nothing  which  He 
Himself  cannot  supply.  Were  He  dependent  even 
on  an  incarnation  He  were  no  longer  God. 

Christ  is  evidently  also  not  the  first  of  a  new 
species,  for  He  has  not  been  followed  by  another 
like  Himself.  He  is  without  family  before  or  after, 
and  as  He  came  from  God,  so  He  also  went  to 
God. 

His  mission  therefore  must  have  been  for  man, 
and  evidently,  He  came  that  some  new  relationship 
or  some  modification  of  an  old  relation  should  be 


384  LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 

formed  between  God  and  the  human  race.  The 
original  relation  was  that  of  union  in  innocence, 
afterwards  broken  and  lost  by  sin.  Christ  came 
therefore  either  to  restore  the  old  harmony  or  to 
create  a  new.  In  some  way,  Christ  came  to  deal 
with  sin,  to  remove  it,  to  destroy  it ;  to  form  afresh 
the  sacred  bond  which  sin  had  broken  and  to  place 
man  in  such  a  relation  to  the  Divine  Father  as  if 
there  had  never  been  and  as  if  there  were  not  the 
fact  of  an  outraged  law  and  a  fallen  humanity. 

Such  an  object  is  declared  by  Scripture  to  have 
been  sought  by  God  in  the  gift  of  His  Son,  and 
such  an  object  is  seen  to  be  the  only  sufficient  end  for 
which  such  a  personality  as  we  have  endeavored  to 
describe  would  be  suited  and  designed.  The  nature 
of  Jesus  and  the  work  of  Jesus  are  thus  found  to 
be  in  harmony,  and  Scripture  not  only  explains, 
but  has  all  parts  of  its  explanation  harmonious  and 
consistent  with  each  other. 

Such,  brethren  are  the  phenomena  of  Christ’s 
character,  and  such  the  only  explanation  which 
perfectly  suits  the  facts.  We  are  bound  as  ra¬ 
tional  men  to  receive  that  theory  which  will 
most  completely  resolve  the  problem.  That  difficult¬ 
ies  remain,  perhaps  forever  beyond  the  scope  of  our 
powers,  is  only  to  say  that  the  problem  belongs  to 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  385 

human  nature  without  for  a  moment  considering 
that  it  contains  also  elements  which  are  divine. 
But  the  very  incomprehensibility — the  residuum  of 
the  inexplicable — only  adds  to  our  sense  of  truthful¬ 
ness.  All  life  is  mysterious,  and  the  best  science 
must  leave  something  at  which  reason  halts  and 
faith  alone  surmounts.  The  unknown  point  of 
union  between  the  divine  and  the  human  is  no 
reason  for  our  refusal  to  accept  what  we  can  see  of 
the  human  or  of  the  divine.  “The  Incarnation  is 
a  mystery  ”  says  the  unbeliever,  “  and  I  refuse  it 
because  it  is  mysterious.”  Then  let  him  refuse  to 
pluck  the  flower  and  rejoice  in  its  fragrance,  to  reap 
the  field  and  make  merry  in  the  harvest.  Let  him 
deny  life  and  being,  the  birth  of  the  child,  the  gen¬ 
eration  of  the  ancestor.  Let  him  refuse  to  feel  if  he 
can  stay  his  feelings,  to  think,  if  he  can  quench  his 
mind.  The  mysteries  of  growth,  of  life,  of  cons¬ 
ciousness — ourselves — are  everywhere  around  within 
us.  The  comprehensible  may  be  the  sum  of  practice 
which  the  school-master  sets  upon  the  schoolboy’s 
slate.  The  life  which  God  gives  is  everywhere 
unknown,  unknowable.  We  are  mysteries,  for  we 
are  the  children  of  God,  not  self-begotten,  not  man- 
created,  and  the  very  fact  that  we  are  balked  in  the 
complete  answer  to  the  enigma  of  Jesus,  is  the  best 


386 


LLE  WEL  YN  D.  BE  VAN. 


proof  that  He  too  in  His  infinite  being  and  incom¬ 
prehensible  personality  is  from  God,  and  as  such  is 
to  be  devoutly  and  faithfully  received  by  men. 

Here,  then,  would  we  apply  the  argument  which 
we  have  pursued.  Christ  is  Divine,  and  so,  His 
work  is  Divinely  accepted  and  will  be  Divinely 
perfected.  Dare  you  refuse  it?  Can  you  reject? 
Christ  is  human,  and  so  with  all  the  tenderness  and 
pity  of  a  brother  He  has  taught  and  labored  and 
died  for  you  ?  Will  you  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  tones 
which  hide  their  glory  as  the  words  of  God,  in  the 
pitiful  gentleness  which  reechoes  the  broken  accents 
of  our  own  human  speech?  Christ’s  work  is  no 
conjecture.  He  was  no  mere  guesser  at  the  uni¬ 
versal  mystery,  the  result  of  whose  speculations  we 
% 

may  balance  and  refuse.  Christ’s  work  is  no 
experiment,  one  of  the  ways  found  for  living,  one  of 
the  ventures  of  life  among  the  manifold  efforts  of 
even  the  best  of  men,  to  be  at  best  ended  in  disap¬ 
pointment,  or  to  be  regarded  only  as  the  best  which 
men  can  do.  But  the  work  of  Christ  is  a  fact — a 
fact  humanly  environed,  but  made  Divinely  com¬ 
plete.  And  when  the  evidences  of  the  apologist 
fail  to  convince  your  intellect,  and  the  eloquence 
of  the  preacher  fails  to  touch  your  heart ;  when 
the  wild  strife  of  sects  and  schools  disturbs  and  be- 


THE  WITNESS  OF  JESUS  TO  HIMSELF.  387 

wilders  you,  and  when  the  world  allures  and  the 
tempter  hurries  you  to  fall,  then,  my  brother,  turn 
to  the  Lord  Himself,  interrogate  Him,  examine 
Him,  listen  to  His  words,  follow  His  steps,  guage 
His  character.  “  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,’'  and  find 
there  that  highest  evidence,  receive  there  that  com- 
pletest  proof  which  is  found  nowhere  but  in  Him 
who  alone  of  men  can  say  “  I  am  one  that  bear  wit¬ 
ness  of  myself.” 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE. 


By  E.  H.  CHAPIN,  D.  D. 

“And  the  scribe  said  unto  him,  Well,  Master, 

THOU  HAST  SAID  THE  TRUTH  :  FOR  THERE  IS  ONE  GOD  ; 
AND  THERE  IS  NONE  OTHER  BUT  HE  ;  AND  TO  LOVE  HIM 
WITH  ALL  THE  HEART,  AND  WITH  ALL  THE  UNDERSTAND¬ 
ING,  AND  WITH  ALL  THE  SOUL,  AND  WITH  ALL  THE 
STRENGTH,  AND  TO  LOVE  HIS  NEIGHBOR  AS  HIMSELF,  IS 
MORE  THAN  ALL  WHOLE  BURNT  OFFERINGS  AND  SACRI¬ 
FICES.” — Mark  XII.,  32,  33. 

The  Scribe  by  whom  these  words  were  spoken, 
had  asked  Jesus  the  following  question  :  “Which  is 
the  first  commandment  of  all  ?”  the  answer  was  that 
“  the  first  of  all  the  commandments  is,  Hear,  O 
Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord  :  and  thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with 
all  thy  strength  *  *  *  and  the  second  is  like, 
namely  this.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.”  You  observe,  then,  that  what  the  Scribe 
says  here  is  substantially  a  recapitulation  of  what 
Jesus  said.  And  I  proceed  at  once  to  remark  that 


39° 


E.  H.  CHAPIN. 


these  words  describe  the  conditions,  or,  in  other 
terms,  the  Root  and  Branches  of  Religious  Life. 

Notice,  then,  that  at  the  basis  of  the  conditions 
specified  in  the  text  there  exists  a  single  Principle. 
That  Principle  is  Love,  “  the  Love  of  God,”  and  all 
healthy  religious  life,  in  whatever  form  expressed, 
grows  out  of  this.  I  do  not  assert  that  what  is 
commonly  called  “  the  Religious  sentiment  ”  is  itself 
Love.  That  instinct  which  moves  in  the  soul  of 
man,  that  mysterious  gravitation  of  our  nature  to 
some  unseen  source,  is  itself  vague  and  indefinite. 
It  may  lie  almost  dormant.  It  may  be  roused  by 
fear.  It  may  traverse  the  circle  of  abject  supersti¬ 
tion.  But  I  speak  of  this  sentiment  in  its  highest 
development.  And  I  say  that  in  this  condition  it 
manifests  itself  not  as  a  response  to  an  arbitrary 
commandment,  but  as  the  intelligent  and  willing 
surrender  of  our  nature  to  infinite  Goodness.  Thus 
its  life-root  is  Love.  True,  it  is  blended  with  fear, — 
that  “  Fear  of  the  Lord  ”  which  “  is  the  beginning 
of  wisdom.”  But  that  kind  of  fear  is  synonomous 
with  reverence.  For  there  are  two  kinds  of  fear.  Both 
of  these  were  illustrated  in  the  incident  of  the  storm 
on  the  sea  of  Galilee.  When  the  wind  arose  and  the 
waves  beat  into  the  ship,  the  disciples  were  smitten 
with  terror,  and  cried,  “  Master,  carest  thou  not  that 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  391 

we  perish  ?”  But  as  they  witnessed  the  majesty  that 
stilled  the  tempest  and  bade  the  sea  be  still,  “  they 
feared  exceedingly,  and  said  one  to  another,  ‘  What 
manner  of  man  is  this,  that  even  the  wind  and  the 
sea  obey  him?’  ”  In  the  one  case  the  fear  was  tim¬ 
idity  and  the  shrinking  of  the  heart  from  danger,  in 
the  other  it  was  the  fear  of  awe  and  reverence.  And 
this  last  kind  is  perfectly  consistent  with  love, — in¬ 
deed  it  is  an  exalted  expression  of  love.  I  repeat, 
then,  this  Love  is  the  Root  of  true  Religious  Life. 
Thus  much  for  the  sentiment  in  itself. 

We  may  now  proceed  to  consider  the  conditions, 
or  operations  of  the  sentiment.  Following  the 
statement  of  the  text,  I  remark  that  these  conditions, 
or  operations,  are  four  fold. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  I  observe  that  this  Love  is 
impelled  by  the  heart.  Now  this  may  seem  to  be  a 
mere  truism.  For  it  is  simply  saying  that  Love  to 
God  must  be  an  exercise  of  the  affections.  Never¬ 
theless  there  is  something  here  for  us  to  consider. 
I  proceed  therefore  to  say  that  Love  to  God  really 
is  an  exercise  of  the  affections, — our  human  affec¬ 
tions.  It  is  no  vague  emotion  or  constrained  pos¬ 
ture  of  our  nature.  How  many  are  there  who  lay 
hold  of  this  requirement  with  clear  perception  ? 
“Love  of  God,”  “Love  of  Jesus,”  these  are  very 


392 


E.  H.  CHAPIN . 


common  expressions.  But  are  they  not  often  unreal 
and  formal  expressions?  The  thoughts  of  men 
passing  into  the  region  of  religious  ideas,  pass  into 
a  region  of  indistinctness.  When  the  soul  glides 
across  the  boundary-line  of  its  mere  earthly  relations 
and  intermingles  with  spiritual  things,  a  strange 
light  shimmers  around  its  way  which  transforms  and 
sometimes  distorts  its  conceptions.  Now  I  need 
not  tell  you  that  I  reject  at  once  the  dogma  that 
“  where  mystery  begins  religion  ends.”  For  indeed 
all  that  lies  beyond  our  senses, — yes  even  within  the 
sphere  of  our  senses, — is  involved  with  mystery. 
Especially  in  this  region  of  religious  thought  and 
religious  life  are  there  facts  that  far  transcend  our 
capacity.  The  ways  of  Him  with  whom  we  have 
to  deal,  are  not  as  our  ways.  Yet  the  things  beyond 
our  sight  may  stand  not  merely  in  imperfect  appre¬ 
hension,  but  in  false  relations  to  our  minds.  Thus 
there  is  no  genuine  grasp  of  them.  Religious  truth  is 
not  tested  and  held  like  any  other  truth.  Religious 
affections  have  not  the  free,  spontaneous  movement 
of  other  affections.  And  so  religion  itself  is  switched 
off  the  track  of  common  life,  and  shut  up  in  conse¬ 
crated  times  and  places  ;  religious  hours  are  divorced 
from  other  hours ;  and  a  religious  man  does  not 
stand  in  our  thoughts  as  equivalent  to  a  thoroughly 
true  man. 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  393 

Remember,  I  am  not  stating  what  Religion  really 
is.  I  am  not  describing  its  legitimate  fruits.  But 
I  am  telling  you  what  comes  of  making  Religion 
and  religious  things  unreal.  Keeping  in  view  this 
point,  I  say  that  while  God  is  incomprehensible  He 
is,  nevertheless,  Real,  and  one  result  of  the  Revela¬ 
tion  which  He  has  given  us  is  to  make  known  His 
Reality.  That  Revelation  is  on  His  part,  a  conde¬ 
scension.  He  draws  near  to  us  that  we  may  draw 
near  to  Him.  He  addresses  those  conceptions  with 
which  we  are  familiar,  as  a  standard  by  which  we 
may  hold  communion  with  Him.  Therefore  the 
call  to  love  Him  appeals  to  no  artificial  emotion,  but 
to  our  natural  affections.  He  not  only  lays  upon 
us  a  command.  He  sets  before  us  those  qualities 
which  are  worthy  our  highest  love.  He  gives  us 
the  Image  of  His  own  perfect  Love  in  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  the  sentiment  of  our  common  humanity  that 
responds  to  the  parables  of  the  Stray  Sheep  and  the 
Prodigal  Son.  Moreover  that  our  love  to  God  is  to 
be  the  exercise  of  natural,  human  love,  is  made  evi¬ 
dent  by  the  Second  Commandment,  which  we  are 
told  is  like  the  first, — “  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.”  The  nature  of  the  love  is  the  same  in 
the  one  instance  as  in  the  other. 

I  affirm,  then,  that  love  to  God  is  natural  love,  in 


394 


E.  H.  CHAPIN . 


kind  not  differing  from  love  to  man,  only  differing 
in  its  object.  Springing  up  in  the  heart,  like  any 
other  worthy  love,  only  as  it  rises  in  this  direction  it 
is  glorified  by  that  object.  Now  how  does  all  other 
love  spring  up  ?  Why,  by  the  necessity  of  its  nature. 
Not  of  constraint,  but  of  freewill,  from  the  heart.  It 
it  cannot  be  forced  into  existence,  it  cannot  be 
made  to  order,  whether  the  summons  come  from 
policy  or  from  terror.  In  obedience  to  the  tests  of 
a  conventional  piety,  a  man  may  say  that  he 
“  hopes  ”  he  loves  God,  he  “  trusts  ”  he  loves  God, 
and  make  spasmodic  efforts  to  realize  the  feeling. 
But  just  analyze  such  statements  as  these.  If  love  to 
God  is  real  love — love  of  the  heart , — see  how 
strangely  they  look.  “Hopes?”  “Trusts?”  Why, 
does  he  not  know  whether  he  loves  his  children,  his 
friends,  his  benefactor,  or  some  truly  excellent  char¬ 
acter?  And  is  the  feeling  towards  God  which  he 
hopes,  or  trusts  he  has,  anything  like  this  warm, 
vital  natural  affection  ? 

And  that  love  which  he  bears  to  his  children,  his 
friends,  is  it  a  feeling  which  he  forces  into  existence, 
or  trains  by  unreal  postures  of  the  soul  ?  Or  does  it 
run  like  a  living  stream  from  the  heart  ?  Can  we 
imagine  one,  in  the  ordinary  relations  of  life,  going 
through  such  a  process  as  he  does  in  the  professions 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  395 

of  a  conventional  piety  ?  What  is  love  to  God  ?  It 
is  love  of  infinite  goodness,  of  perfect  excellence. 
It  draws  peculiar  sanctity  from  its  object,  neverthe¬ 
less  love  to  God  is  not  an  arbitrary  or  unnatural  sen¬ 
timent.  After  all,  it  is  with  this  heart,  this  human 
heart  of  our’s  that  we  must  love  our  Father  in 
heaven,  this  human  heart,  centre  of  strange  emotions, 
bound  about  with  dear  relationships,  throbbing  with 
untold  joys  and  sorrows — these  weak,  imperfect 
hearts  of  our’s — we  can  only  consecrate  their  best 
energies,  and  lift  them  up  to  their  highest  Ideal. 

This,  then,  is  the  first  condition  of  Religious 
life.  “  Out  of  the  heart  are  *  all  ’  the  issues  of  life,” 
its  best  things  as  well  as  its  worst  things.  It  is  the 
mainspring  of  all  good  work.  Only  that  is  well 
done  which  we  love  to  do.  It  has  been  truly  said, 
that  ‘  no  amount  of  pay  has  ever  made  a  good 
soldier,  a  good  teacher,  a  good  artist,  a  good  work¬ 
man.’  Pay  as  you  will,  the  goodness  of  the  thing 
depends  upon  its  being  done  for  nothing.”  Real 
excellence  is  neither  bought  nor  sold.  That  comes 
only  of  freedom  and  love.  Thus  with  Religion — its 
vitality  comes  from  the  loving  heart. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  may  be  sure  that  the 
object  of  true  Religion  presents  that  which  charms 
and  wins  the  human  heart.  No  arbitrary  command- 


396  E.  H.  CHAPIN. 

ment  can  do  this.  The  attraction  exists  in  the  very 
nature  of  Him  whom  we  are  required  to  love. 
Therefore  to  lift  this  requirement  out  of  any  arbi¬ 
trary  interpretation,  it  is  necessary  that  the  Revela¬ 
tion  of  God  Himself  should  shine  upon  us.  We 
most  extricate  ourselves  from  all  mere  human  teach¬ 
ings,  and  come  face  to  face  with  Him  in  Jesus  Christ. 

And  now  let  me  ask  whether  this  first  of  all  Com¬ 
mandments  finds  any  response  in  your  hearts  ?  Or 
does  it  stand  before  you  only  in  the  hardness  of  the 
letter?  Do  you  realize  who  it  is  requires  your  love? 
Look  upon  the  world  around  you.  Consider  its 
vastness,  its  stupendous  forces,  the  mechanism  of 
the  heavens  that  silently  moves  above  you.  And 
then  think  of  the  unbounded  goodness  that  flows 
into  all  these  things,  and  flows  forever,  binding  con¬ 
stellations  with  their  “  sweet  influences,”  and  feed¬ 
ing  the  wild-bird  in  its  nest.  This  goodness  thus 
manifest  above  all,  though  all,  in  all,  does  it  not 
unseal  the  spring  of  deep,  spontaneous  love  in  your 
hearts  ? 

Or,  as  I  have  said,  stand  face  to  face  with  the 
Revelation  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  That  mercy  and 
tenderness  which  walked  among  men,  and  pitied  our 
infirmities  and  bore  our  sorrows,  which  found  no  sin 
too  dark  for  its  reconciling  light,  no  sorrow  too  heavy 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  397 

for  its  consoling  grace,  do  not  our  hearts  respond  to 
this  ?  Surely,  then,  the  Commandment  which  the 
Scribe  re-affirms  in  the  text,  is  interpreted  in  our 
hearts. 

And  this  is  the  only  principle  that  can  overcome 
evil,  that  can  absolutely  conquer  and  uproot  evil. 
The  infatuation  of  a  wrong  affection  can  be  des¬ 
troyed  by  nothing  but  a  mightier  love.  The  drunk¬ 
ard  will  not  be  reformed  by  denunciations  or 
warnings.  He  must  be  lifted  above  the  fascination 
of  his  appetite,  he  must  be  carried  away  from  his 
estate  of  baseness  and  of  bondage,  by  some  wave  of 
moral  impulse  sweeping  him  onward  with  the  en¬ 
thusiasm  of  trust  and  hope.  The  daughter  of  shame 
is  unmoved  by  anathemas,  or  by  rhetoric.  But  the 
mysterious  depths  of  that  heart  may  be  touched  by 
some  holy  love,  it  may  be  the  glimpse  of  a  mother’s 
face  in  heaven,  mightiest  of  all  by  the  conviction  of 
a  God  who  does  not  abandon  even  the  outcast. 

Go  to  a  man  whose  soul  is  pickled  with  avarice, 
and  exhort  him  with  some  fine  moral  lesson.  Do  you 
think  that  will  lift  him  out  of  those  sordid  grooves, 
and  set  him  in  the  Kingdom  0/  Heaven?  No! 
nothing  will  do  this  but  Divine  Love  descending  into 
his  heart.  Yes;  the  Christian  doctrine  of  regenera¬ 
tion  is  an  irrefutable  doctrine.  The  essence  of  a 


398 


E.  H.  CHAPIN. 


man’s  nature  is  his  love,  and  that  can  be  changed 
only  by  a  change  of  heart '.  This  is  the  way  in 
which  God  overcomes  our  sin,  our  selfish  will,  our 
hate,  and  lust,  our  pride  that  mounts  so  high,  our 
appetites  that  sink  so  low.  He  has  revealed  Him¬ 
self.  His  boundless  mercy  in  Jesus  Christ.  Alas  ! 
when  we  blind  our  eyes  and  will  not  see,  and  stop 
our  ears  so  that  we  cannot  hear. 

II.  Another  condition  of  religious  life  is  love  of 
the  soul.  This  is  a  state  of  holy  sensitiveness  and 
refinement.  All  our  instincts  become  right.  Our 
souls  shrink  from  sin  as  the  eye-ball  shrinks  from  a 
speck,  or  a  touch.  I  will  not  assert  that  that  man 
has  no  religion  at  all  to  whom  goodness  is  a  restraint, 
and  who  is  kept  out  of  sin  as  a  child  is  kept  out  of 

the  fire — by  a  fender  of  terrors.  But  surely  he  has 

/ 

a  little  more  than  a  form  of  religion.  Is  it  not  so, — 
when  his  caged  heart  keeps  fluttering  after  indul¬ 
gence,  and  through  his  brain  there  runs  a  troop  of 
epicurean  conceits,  even  though  his  external  life  is 
decent?  His  name  may  stand  in  the  register  of 
some  earthly  church  ;  but,  reckoning  not  how  much 
grace  he  may  gain  but  how  much  indulgence  he 
must  spare,  how  is  he  fitted  for  that  invisible  church, 
that  celestial  city,  whose  crystal  walls  and  golden 
streets  are  only  symbols  of  intrinsic  purity  and  holy 
love  ? 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE .  399 

Moreover,  true  religion  is  not  a  fitful  emotion, 
lifted  up  and  carried  forward  only  by  waves  of  ex¬ 
citement.  I  am  not  going  to  discuss  the  efficacy  of 
what  are  called  religious  excitements.  Souls  may 
be  borne  in  them,  but  cannot  always  live  in  them. 
They  may  be  means  of  grace  with  some — with 
many.  But  those  who  affirm  this  as  a  matter  of 
their  own  experience,  should  not  disparage  that 
steady,  gradual  growth  which, — “  first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear, — ” 
unfolds  in  the  silence  of  the  soul,  nor  have  they 
any  warrant  to  challenge  the  genuineness  of  this 
spiritual  life  in  others,  because  its  expression  is  less 
demonstrative,  or  rather,  less  vociferous  than  theirs. 

My  brethren,  when  a  man  loves  God  with  all  his 
soul,  religion  is,  so  to  speak,  the  genius  of  that 
man.  It  is  the  entire  sweep  and  tendency  of  his  na¬ 
ture.  In  such  a  case,  let  us  not  attempt  to  guage  the 
depth  of  that  soul’s  life  by  the  mere  agitation  of  the 
surface.  The  technically  religious  are  not  sure  to  be 
the  most  religious,  nor, — as  in  foreign  cities  we  some¬ 
times  see,  the  words  “  English  spoken  here,” — may 
we  expect  to  see  some  legible  sign  which  says, 
“  Religion  professed  here.”  The  true  religion  of 
the  soul  is  an  atmosphere, — it  appears  in  the  as¬ 
pect  of  a  life, — even  as  an  old  poet  has  said,  com- 


400 


E.  II.  CHAP IX. 


daring  the  expression  of  some  one’s  face  to  the 
milky-way, — it  is  “  A  meeting  of  gentle  lights  with¬ 
out  a  name.” 

He  who  loves  God  with  all  his  soul,  asks  not 
whether  the  public  eye  is  upon  him.  Everywhere, 
always,  he  feels  the  Infinite  Presence,  the  Infinite 
Purity.  His  conscience  is  always  tender  clear  down 
to  the  roots,  and  always  growing.  It  is  with  con¬ 
science  very  much  as  it  is  with  education.  At  school 
or  college,  the  young  man  erects  the  frame-work  that 
ought  to  set  him  up  in  life,  to  be  continually  educated. 
But  he  leaves  school,  or  college,  and  his  education 
stops.  He  seldom  looks  into  a  book,  or  consults  a 
principle.  He  keeps  just  enough  education  to  read 
the  newspapers  and  to  cipher  by.  In  this  way,  I 
fear,  many  people  treat  conscience.  They  store  up 
some  excellent  maxims,  and  at  times,  perhaps,  get  a 
genuine  religious  shock  that,  for  a  while,  opens  their 
eyes  to  spiritual  realities.  But  conscience  does  not 
grow  any  more,  nor  expand  into  larger  vision.  Life 
becomes  routine,  and  religion  stagnates  on  a  dead 
level. 

The  truly  religious  man  grows  in  the  life  of  con¬ 
science  as  the  scholar  grows  in  the  life  of  intellect. 
As  the  one  proceeds  from  the  alphabet  to  the  Prin- 
cipia  of  Newton,  and  onward  to  the  sublimest  dis 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE . 


401 


coveries,  so  the  other  perpetually  ascends  into  the 
region  of  spiritual  truth,  grows  more  conscious  of 
sinful  habits  and  motives,  receives  fresh  inspirations 
of  duty,  and  holds  personal  communion  with  the 
Father. 

III.  Again,  the  Religion  whose  root  is  Love,  is  in 
vital  alliance  with  the  understanding , — with  the  en¬ 
lightened  mind,  with  clear,  free  thought.  Time 
will  not  permit  me  even  to  touch  all  the  suggestions 
which  arise  on  this  point. 

Let  me  observe,  however,  that  while  it  is  true 
that  the  privileges  of  the  religious  life  do  not  de¬ 
pend  on  the  degree  of  intellectual  capacity, — while 
it  is  true  that  these  are  for  the  humble,  the  ignorant, 
the  way-faring  man, — nevertheless  the  intellect  testi¬ 
fies  to  the  love  of  God,  and  the  more  we  know,  the 
more  fresh  and  real  will  our  religion  be.  There  are 
some  who,  apparently,  assume  that  religi  m  and  rea¬ 
son  are  antagonistic.  They  virtually  tell  us  that  the 
heart,  the  emotions,  the  sensitive  soul,  are  on  the  side 
of  Faith, — but  the  brains  are  on  the  side  of  scepticism 
and  denial.  Now, — to  say  nothing  of  the  some¬ 
what  scant  modesty  of  this  assumption,  or  of  the 
fact  that  a  large  amount  of  brain-weight  in  this 
world  has  worked  as  religious  and  Christian  force, 


402 


E.  H.  CHAPIN. 


it  seems  to  me  a  strange  thing,  to  assert  that  two 
factors  of  our  nature  harmonize,  but  the  third  is 
antagonistic.  My  hearers,  we  may  be  sure  that  is 
no  religious  truth,  which  will  not  stand  the  test  of 
all  our  research.  We  may  be  sure  that,  in  the  sub¬ 
lime  unity  of  God’s  universe,  all  truth  will  turnout 
to  be  religious  truth. 

Again,  there  are  those  who,  because  human 
reason  is  evidently  limited,  regard  it  as  spurious. 
So  they  turn  to  “authority.”  They  deny  the  right 
of  private  judgment.  They  affirm  that  God  has 
given  to  one  man  a  faculty  with  which  He  has  not 
endowed  any  man, — infallibility.  They  shrink  from 
clear  vision,  and  actual  contact  with  spiritual  real¬ 
ities.  They  get  at  these  only  through  forms  and 
sacraments — through  agents  and  intercessors.  I  do 
not  disparage,  much  less  would  I  revile,  the  help 
which  men  find  in  ceremonials.  But  when  material 
symbols  are  made  to  stand  in  place  of  the  thing 
signified, — when  they  balk  the  soul’s  blessed  priv¬ 
ilege  of  open  vision,  and  instant  contact  with  the 
Truth  and  the  Life, — then  we  cannot  too  strenu¬ 
ously  assert  that  Christianity  is  a  religion  of  fre- 
dom  and  of  thought.  Then  no  ranks  of  saints,  or 
martyrs,  or  Madonas,  or  aught  else  must  take  the 
place  of  “the  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man. 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  403 

the  Man  Christ  Jesus.”  Then  no  creed,  or  cate¬ 
chism,  or  church,  or  priest,  or  Pope,  must  bar  our 

f 

communion  with  the  Head  of  the  Church,  and  “  the 
One  God  and  Father  of  all  ”  Whom  He  has  revealed. 

There  is  an  affected  humility  which  says  “  God 
does  not  need  our  knowledge,”  to  which  we  may 
reply  in  the  words  of  Robert  Hall,  “No;  and  he 
does  not  need  our  ignorance  either.”  There  are  in¬ 
fidels  in  the  Church,  who  by  the  timidity  of  their 
faith,  betray  a  lurking  scepticism  ;  there  are  those 
who  shrink  from  discoveries,  and  regard  intellectual 
culture  as  a  wintry  atmosphere,  clear,  but  cold, 
under  which  the  soul  lies  frost-bound,  and  the 
sensitive  graces  of  piety  droop  and  die.  Why,  if 
vital  piety  shrivels  as  the  mind  expands,  and 
flourishes  best  in  the  shadow  of  ignorance,  in  strict 
logic,  the  more  ignorant  we  are,  the  more  pious  we 
ought  to  be,  and  moral  excellence  is  in  inverse  pro¬ 
portion  to  knowledge.  Now,  in  order  that  we  may 
love  God,  we  must  know  why  we  love  Him.  With¬ 
out  this  there  is  no  steadfastness  of  conviction, — no 
real  grasp  of  the  mind’s  object.  If  the  branches  of 
religious  life  develop  in  harmony,  the  intellect  will 
serve  its  true  end  in  proportion  to  its  light  and  its 
expansion.  Everywhere  it  will  find  incentives  to 
the  love  that  kindles  in  the  heart,  and  suffuses  the 


4°4 


E.  H.  CHAPIN> 


soul.  By  its  action  the  flame  of  religion  will  be¬ 
come  a  clear  flame,  “like  unto  glass  mingled  with 
fire.”  Thus  exercising  every  faculty  of  our  nature 
as  God’s  gift,— by  the  free,  yet  humble  use  of  the 
intellect,  ever  discerning  new  instances  of  a  good¬ 
ness, — let  us  love  Him  “with  all  the  understand- 

•  y  y 

mg. 

IV.  And  “  with  all  our  strength."  The  strength 
of  practical  action  ;  the  strength  which  issues  from 
completeness.  Thus  shall  we  have  a  religion  of  our 
entire  nature, — heart,  soul,  and  mind  precipitated 
in  love  to  God,  and  as  surely  as  it  is  impelled  by 
love  to  God,  appearing  in  love  to  man. 

But  is  not  the  idea  of  religion  often  associated 
with  weakness?  Is  not  the  religious  man  regarded 
by  many,  as  a  man  of  softer  clay  and  more  watery 
essence  than  other  men  ?  At  least  he  is  not  consider¬ 
ed  to  be  the  sort  of  timber  with  which  to  build  a 
thorough  working-man  of  the  world.  If  he  does 
plunge  in  among  the  realities  of  common  life,  it  is  in¬ 
ferred  that  he  must  deduct  fifty  per  cent  from  the  ster¬ 
ling  value  of  his  religion,  or  alloy  himself  with  hypoc¬ 
risy.  But  I  hardly  need  reply  to  this,  that  there  is 
nothing  in  this  world  so  mighty  as  a  genuine  faith 
working  by  love.  There  is  nothing  like  it  to  make 
a  strong  generation  of  God-fearing,  God-loving, 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  405 

man-loving  men.  And  yet  this  mistake  has  been 
made  for  a  reason.  It  has  arisen  not  because  re¬ 
ligion  itself  is  weak,  but  because  we  have  so  weakly 
laid  hold  of  it.  Yes,  one  reason  why  the  world  is 
so  contemptuous  about  “  piety,”  is  because  so  often 
the  leaves  of  profession  cover  such  meagre  fruits  of 
practice. 

As  to  religion  itself,  it  stands  upon  immovable 
foundations.  It  answers  to  wants  and  aspirations 
that  are  inherent.  It  expresses  facts  that  are  as 
real  in  human  consciousness,  and  as  significant, 
as  to  the  eye  of  science,  as  is  the  fossil  in  the  rock,  or 
the  star  in  the  sky.  And  however  cunningly  as¬ 
sailed,  or  for  a  time  even  violently  suppressed,  these 
primary  interests  will  continually  assert  themselves. 

In  the  village  of  Ementhal, — so  runs  the  legend, 
— there  was  once  a  celebrated  convent,  which  has 
now  entirely  disappeared.  Among  other  things 
that  convent  possessed  a  golden  organ,  which  stood 
in  the  church,  and  was  played  during  service.  At 
length  the  convent  was  attacked  by  enemies,  and 
the  monks,  in  order  to  save  the  precious  organ  from 
the  grasp  of  their  assailants,  dragged  it  away  and 
sunk  it  deep  in  a  marsh.  They  never  recovered  it. 
But  the  story  goes  that  the  golden  organ  is  there 
still,  and  that  once  in  every  seven  years,  at  mid- 


E.  H.  CHAPIN. 


406 

night,  it  rises  out  of  its  hiding  place,  and  through 
its  golden  pipes  there  peals  out  wondrous  music, 
— soft  breathings  that  sweetly  stir  the  night  air, 
and  mighty  waves  of  sound  that  roll  and  echo 
through  the  woods.  So  this  great  organ  of  our 
spiritual  nature,  buried  in  many  corruptions,  and 
at  times  suppressed  by  denial  and  by  doubt,  ever 
and  anon  rises  from  the  depths,  and  sends  out  its 
notes  of  primal  truth,  of  fredom,  and  righteousness, 
and  love, — its  breathings  of  Divine  aspiration. 

And  as  to  the  Religion  of  Jesus  especially,  its  wit¬ 
ness  is  the  fact  that  the  world  needs  it.  How  much  it 
needs  it !  This  Religion  of  strength  ;  this  Relig¬ 
ion  of  the  husk  made  Religion  of  the  grain  ;  this 
Religion  of  good  words  made  a  Religion  of  benefi¬ 
cent  deeds :  this  religion  of  sect  and  party  made  a 
Religion  of  Christian  brotherhood  and  world-wide 
help.  For  this  Religion  of  Jesus,  which  has  so 
often  been  feebly  and  falsely  rendered,  is,  in  itself,  a 
religion  of  power, — a  power  that  convinces ,  not  that 
drives, — that  wins  the  heart,  the  soul,  the  mind,  and 
binds  them  together  and  makes  them  strong. 

Jesus  here  pronounces  a  commandment,  but  a 
commandment  that  carries  its  persuasion  with  Him¬ 
self,  and  in  Himself.  He  says  :  “  Love  the  Lord 
thy  God,”  but  at  the  same  time  he  reveals  the  glory 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  407 

and  the  excellence  that  claims  our  love.  Is  it  not 
a  reasonable  claim  ?  Does  it  not  involve  our  truest 
life  ?  Can  we  deny  it  ?  Shall  we  reject  it  ?  What 
else,  then,  is  there  for  us  ?  This  love  of  the  heart, 
and  soul,  and  mind,  and  strength,  “  is  more  than  all 
whole  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices.”  Possessing 
this, — living  this, — under  whatever  form  of  Chris¬ 
tian  action,  under  whatever  name  of  Christian  faith, 
we  are  “  not  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God.” 


